The UN released a report on Wednesday on the mass rapes executed by the army in eastern Congo in November 2012. Learn more about what happened from Pulitzer Center grantees Fiona Lloyd-Davies and Pete Jones. In a small house on a hill overlooking Lake Kivu, a young Congolese soldier recounts the crimes he and his comrades committed in Minova a few months ago. “Twenty-five of us gathered together and said we should rape 10 women each, and we did it,” he said. “I’ve raped 53 women. And children of five or six years old.” - Read the rest of the article here. Photo: An army sergeant who says he was ordered to rape by his commanding officer. Image by Fiona Lloyd-Davies. DRC, 2013.
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The UN released a report on Wednesday on the mass rapes executed by the army in eastern Congo in November 2012. Learn more about what happened from Pulitzer Center grantees Fiona Lloyd-Davies and Pete Jones.

In a small house on a hill overlooking Lake Kivu, a young Congolese soldier recounts the crimes he and his comrades committed in Minova a few months ago. “Twenty-five of us gathered together and said we should rape 10 women each, and we did it,” he said. “I’ve raped 53 women. And children of five or six years old.” - Read the rest of the article here.

Photo: An army sergeant who says he was ordered to rape by his commanding officer. Image by Fiona Lloyd-Davies. DRC, 2013.

Masika Daya, abducted by Morgan to be one of his ten “wives,” stands in the grounds of the prison in Bunia where she is held by local authorities. Meanwhile, the need to capture the violent militiamen, who wreaked a campaign of murder, rape and poaching, grows ever greater.  Read the full story by Pulitzer Center grantee Pete Jones here. Image by Francesca Tosarelli. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.
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Masika Daya, abducted by Morgan to be one of his ten “wives,” stands in the grounds of the prison in Bunia where she is held by local authorities. Meanwhile, the need to capture the violent militiamen, who wreaked a campaign of murder, rape and poaching, grows ever greater.  Read the full story by Pulitzer Center grantee Pete Jones here.

Image by Francesca Tosarelli. Democratic Republic of Congo, 2013.

Tensions over trans-boundary water issues with Iran and Pakistan have been a major hurdle to investments in Afghanistan’s water infrastructure. Only 5 percent of international aid has gone to the water sector. Projects like the reconstruction of the Kajaki dam are stalled despite funding due to casualties, politics and infighting. Most water flows out of Afghanistan unused. Without water infrastructure, the largely agricultural economy is struggling as the international gaze begins to shift away. The problem may only worsen: the UN says that water supply per capita may decrease 50 percent over the next decade in Afghanistan. 

Images by Pulitzer Center grantee Mujib Mashal. Afghanistan, 2012. Read his stories about conflicts over water in Afghanistan here.

Pulitzer Center grantee Mujib Mashal explains how trans-boundary water tensions with Iran and Pakistan cast a shadow on the development of Afghanistan’s mainly agricultural economy.

In his reporting project, he’s found water murder, violent threats against political officials, farmers’ reluctance to diversify from poppy production until there’s enough water, and an international reluctance to get involved. Only 5 percent of aid money flowing into Afghanistan goes to the water sector, despite clear needs for infrastructure. Read more here. 

“When most people in the world hear about Mexico and drugs, many seem not to make the connection that organized crime and drugs has with their own communities. There is no single country in the world that is not affected by illegal drug use.” - Pulitzer Center grantee Louie Palu. Don’t miss reading more about Palu’s process in photographing the people caught in the Mexican drug war. Are you a high school or college student? Consider entering a photo into our borderlands (seen and unseen) photography contest. Learn more here.
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“When most people in the world hear about Mexico and drugs, many seem not to make the connection that organized crime and drugs has with their own communities. There is no single country in the world that is not affected by illegal drug use.” - Pulitzer Center grantee Louie Palu.

Don’t miss reading more about Palu’s process in photographing the people caught in the Mexican drug war.

Are you a high school or college student? Consider entering a photo into our borderlands (seen and unseen) photography contest. Learn more here.

Source: bit.ly

‘The shot that nearly killed me’

Below is an amazing collection of images and insight from war photographers, reblogged from The Guardian. Warning: contains some graphic images.

“I always ask myself, “Why do I do this job?’ And the answer is: I want to show the best and worst face of humankind. Every time you go to a conflict, you see the worst.” -Alvaro Ybarra Zavala, Congo, 2008.

guardian:

Photograph: Adam Ferguson/V11 Network

Photograph: Adam Ferguson/VII Network

A special report looking at the work of war photographers and asking who would choose this dangerous profession?

Water: The other oil

Abyei, Sudan. 2010.
Image by Rebecca Hamilton. Abyei, Sudan, 2010.

In a move southern leaders called a “declaration of war,” north Sudanese troops invaded the flashpoint border town of Abyei, Sudan over the weekend.

But why does Abyei matter? Hint: it’s not just about the oil.

For the people who live here – who have never seen any benefits from oil and don’t believe they ever will, the talk of oil just feels like a headache they would rather do without. But if you took oil out of the equation you would still have a very big Abyei problem – primarily because of water, but also because of the political manipulation of local actors, and the legacy of war on inter-ethnic relations. None of these issues are getting the coverage they deserve because of the hyped-up focus on oil. -Rebecca Hamilton, 11/3/10

The BBC has a good piece on Abyei today, as well.