The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday denounced the alleged embezzlement of $1,3-billion by public companies and finance officials. The embezzlement was revealed following a public audit.

The National Congress for the Defense of the Congolese People (CNDP) rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda (photo) is reportedly provoking fights against other militia groups and causing instability in the restive North Kivu province. Meanwhile, President Joseph Kabila's government has accused the rebel group of going on rampage and executing civilians whom they claim to be members of other militias in the area.

Human rights officials with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have expressed serious concern about the living conditions in the Mbuji Mayi central prison, where at least 26 prisoners have died from severe and acute malnutrition since February. In the latest incident at the prison, located in Kasaï Oriental province, four prisoners died of hunger last week, bringing the total number of deaths in one month to 10.

Displaced people this week began returning to their homes in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with the help of the United Nations refugee agency. Five boats chartered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ferried the first group of 712 people – from a settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Tchomia – across Lake Albert to the town of Gobu in the Ituri district of DRC's Orientale province.

The UPEACE Africa Programme has secured funding from The Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This funding will be strictly allocated to African students studying at African institutions and in particular for those, who are in the final stage of their PhD studies. The award is intended to support PhD candidates in their field research, data analysis, associated travel and production costs.

There is potentially enormous mineral wealth in the DRC province of Katanga. In exchange, investors from all over the world, and especially China, are prepared to offer money and infrastructure to revive the DRC after 15 terrible years of war and invasion. The potential for ecological disaster, social exploitation and corruption is almost limitless.

In a culture that marginalizes rape victims, Generose felt isolated socially, economically and psychologically from the society that failed to offer support in her need. But once she found people who cared and made her feel safe again, both physically and emotionally, the 32-year-old Congolese woman began to rekindle her dreams of building a new life in South Kivu province after months of internal displacement in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Belgian authorities have transferred Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, to the Court’s detention centre in The Hague.

This paper considers the challenges that need to be addressed within the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) forest sector if innovative models for the management and financing of the country's forests are to be successfully implemented. These challenges include those related to broader forest governance, i.e. the policy, legal and institutional conditions. It also considers the conditions required to facilitate forest business and enterprises.

Prosecutors on Friday charged two Congolese warlords with killing 200 civilians, taking women as sexual slaves and recruiting child soldiers, as they launched the second case at the International Criminal Court. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are both accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, sexual slavery, rape, inhumane acts and using child soldiers.

Government troops, national police, foreign groups and local militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continue to contribute to deteriorating human rights conditions, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the country (MONUC) has said in a report.

We, the 71 Congolese organizations representing the women of DRC, would like to take this opportunity to express our grave concerns about the tragedy sexual violence has inflicted on women and young girls in our country, particularly in the east.

Relative stability in the border province of South Kivu is encouraging Congolese refugees to return home, but some face problems once they get back – especially over land. Land is at the heart of many disputes and confrontation between returnees and those who never fled, as well as between returnees, be they refugees or internally displaced people.

The humanitarian community in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has expressed concern over the proliferation of the number of "spontaneous" sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the province, hosting at least 857,000 IDPs. "These spontaneous sites are quite new in North Kivu and they are mainly linked to reduced capacities of host families to accommodate the displaced, Caroline Draveny, the public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told IRIN. "We are working on ways of assisting the affected IDPs as well as the host families themselves."

A disarmament pledge by two minor Rwandan Hutu rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a welcome, if small, step to restoring peace in the devastated region, according to the government and analysts. Rwandan insurgents are one of the key elements in a complex web of armed groups in a region where violence, especially sexual violence against women, is still widespread five years after the official end of DRC's last civil war.

During the French environment minister's recent visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congolese civil society organizations released a statement drawing attention to the alarming situation in the Congo forests and the destructive activities of logging companies.

The UN refugee agency on Thursday condemned a rebel attack on a makeshift camp in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that left at least nine people dead, including two children, and scores wounded. UNHCR said it was evacuating staff and temporarily suspending operations in the Rutshuru area of North Kivu province after Wednesday's raid on Kinyandoni camp, which shelters some 5,000 internally displaced people (IDP).

The African social science research community has been paying close attention to the evolution of the situation at the National University of Kinshasa. It is now four months since academic activities have been paralyzed as a result of a lecturer’s strike for decent wages. For a couple of days now, students have become prey to the police because they decided to conduct a march to pressure the government to respond positively to the lecturers’ demands.

The international community must move beyond providing immediate basic services and develop a strategy to deal comprehensively with the dynamics of the current displacement crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite a precarious security situation, internally displaced people in North Kivu and the communities that host three-quarters of the total displaced population are trying to move forward with their lives, and they are doing so with or without the support of the international community.

Reporters Without Borders and its partner organisation in Democratic Republic of Congo, Journalist in Danger (JED), are relieved to learn that the two friends of journalist Serge Maheshe who were with him when he was murdered last year in Bukavu, in the eastern province Sud-Kivu, have been acquitted on appeal of instigating his murder.