DR Congo

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on Saturday launched a new round of talks mediated by the African Union (AU) on the disputed Blue Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project on the Blue Nile, which nations in subsequent countries fear could lead to further water shortages. The three-day talks held by President Felix Tshisekedi take place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current chairman of the AU. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Cairo wants the negotiations to…

Rwanda's Hutu rebels on Tuesday denied allegations that they were behind the assassination of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and instead accused the armies of the DRC and Rwanda. Luca Attanasio died of his wounds on Monday after a convoy of the World Food Program (WFP) came under fire near the eastern city of Goma while on a field trip, according to a senior diplomatic source in Kinshasa and WFP. The Italian government confirmed the death, saying an Italian police…

UNICEF on Wednesday became the third UN agency to launch an internal investigation into the sexual abuse of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and promised "serious consequences" for possible sins. The Children's Fund said in a statement that it was "shocked that people identifying themselves as UNICEF workers have allegedly abused vulnerable women in the Democratic Republic of Congo." It was not immediately clear how many UNICEF staff had been charged. "There will be serious consequences for any staff…

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that it was investigating allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of people who identified themselves as UN agency workers fighting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The WHO said its management and staff were "furious" over recent reports of sexual abuse by people who said they worked for the UN health agency in the Ebola campaign in the DRC. "The actions allegedly taken by individuals who identify themselves as working for the WHO are unacceptable and will be…

Every day, an estimated 400 women perform unsafe abortions in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. FRANCE 24 spoke with members of the NGO Afia Mama, which provides psychological, medical and legal support to women seeking abortion. Although the DRC has signed and ratified the Maputo Protocol, which allows women to terminate a pregnancy in the event of rape or if it threatens their health, Congolese criminal law continues to prohibit abortions. "The fact that the law is inconsistent means that the…