The Sama Gazette

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Change the Equation for Congo: Just 5 minutes for 5 days


In August 2009, one of our first post on the Sama Gazette was: The (new) blood diamonds: it ain’t a movie… This post followed the publication of an article on the Boston Globe: The new blood diamonds by John Prendergast, co-founder of the project Enough at the Center for American Progress. Since then, more and more people are now aware of the situation and we can’t look away anymore.

Starting today (April 19 – 23), Raise Hope for Congo launches a new campaign to support conflict minerals legislation in Congress. The ‘Change the Equation for Congo!’ campaign invites you to spend just 5 minutes each day for 5 days to help the organization get 10 new Congressional Champions for HR 4128.

Why support the conflict minerals trade act? (Read more here)

If passed into law, the Conflict Minerals Trade Act will give you, as a consumer, the choice to purchase conflict-free electronics products. Introduced by Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA), Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Barney Frank (D-MA), the Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009 (HR 4128) would create a system of audits and import declarations that would distinguish those goods imported into the United States that contain conflict minerals. The resulting transparency would be an important step toward breaking the links between the mineral trade and horrific human rights abuses in Congo.

If you want to take action, you can click here to email your Representative. If you are not aware about conflict minerals yet, then you can learn more about the conflict and the sexual violence epidemic in the Congo on this page. ‘Legislation in the US alone will not end the conflict in eastern Congo, but this bill would provide a crucial step toward the creation of a practical and enforceable means to ensure that the trade in Congolese minerals contributes to peace rather than war.’ You can also follow this link introducing the campaign.

We invite the North American readers of the Sama Gazette to support the CMTA (Conflict Minerals Trade Act) and we hope this campaign will expand to other countries because those buying the conflict minerals include companies based in EU member states. Our goal is to contribute to shine a light on this invisible yet catastrophic crisis. As for the many other organizations and campaigns we support on the Sama Gazette, we count on the Sama Readers to spread the word to your friends, family and community!




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