THE UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

​ORLANDO CHAPTER
2020

​CONGO AND THE AFRICAN GREAT LAKES INTRO

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​CONGO AND THE AFRICAN GREAT LAKES


The African Great Lakes region consists of countries that surround the Rift Valley Lakes. It consists of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is one of the most densely populated areas of the world, with an estimated 107 million people living in the Great Lakes region. The first Europeans to arrive in the region in any number were missionaries who had limited success in converting the locals but did open the area to later colonization. In recent years after the independence, the land has been marred by civil war, political instability, armed conflicts, porous borders, and humanitarian crises, tensions over natural resources and immense violence, leaving the region in substantial poverty.  
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learning resources

VIDEOS
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ARTICLES
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Conflict in the African Great Lakes Region
Patrick Kanyangara| Accord | 2016

Rwanda: 25 Years On, Solidarity With Victims
Human Rights Watch| 04 April 2019

​Contested waters: Conflict on Africa's Great Lakes
Philipp Sandner (imm) | DW News | 27 August 2018


​Africa's Great Lakes, but bad neighbours
BBC Africa News | 31 July 2013
Democratic Republic of Congo profile - Timeline
BBC | 10 January 2019

Thousands flee violence in south-eastern DR Congo
UNHCR | Andreas Kirchhof | 20 February 2018

The African Union and the Burundi Crisis: Ambition versus Reality
International Group Crisis | 28 September 2016

​'This is hell': devastated Congolese village embodies country's crisis
Jason Burke | The Guardian | 19 Dec 2018