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Geopolitics

Life At A Standstill As New Clashes Erupt In Congo

M23 fighters in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
M23 fighters in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
Paul Durand

KIWANJA - On a recent weekday morning, time seemed to be standing still in this town in eastern Congo. A strange atmosphere reigns, with most of the shops and stalls closed and the town’s schools empty.

“Bullets can start flying at any time, so we let our students out early,” says a teacher in Kiwanja in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. .

News of the return of the M23 rebels has spread, and though locals tried not to give in to panic, the sounds of shots being fired the previous evening convinced most residents to stay inside. “A man was shot to death, he was buried by the Red Cross,” says a neighborhood leader.

Kiwanja and Rutshuru, two towns north of Goma, the North Kivu regional capital, had been strongholds of the M23 rebels since since the anti-government forces took control of the region in July 2012. But in February, the rebels split into two rival factions and left the region, leaving entire towns at the mercy of armed militias.

Soon after, government troops arrived to try to secure the towns, and were welcomed by locals who were able to go back to working the fields. “Our lives had stopped, everything, all activities were stopped,” recalled one inhabitant.

But hopes were quickly shot down. A few days later, the army left, abandoning the towns to the warring militia groups. “We were ready to defend this region but our superiors told us to hand back the towns,” explained a government soldier.

Reports say the army was forced to hand back the towns to avoid jeopardizing peace negotiations, since an agreement reached last November stipulated that the government could not move into M23 territory while negotiations are ongoing.

Short-lived peace for locals

The confusion on the ground comes more than a year after civil strife erupted in the mineral-rich northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the borders of Uganda and Rwanda. Rebels briefly held the city of Goma in November, before withdrawing and entering negotiations with the government. Still unrest continues, and locals pay the price.

Benjamin M’ponimpa, the administrator of Rutshuru, who was installed by the M23, blames what is happening in his town on the pro-government Mai Mai militia, which is active in the region. “After the M23 left, other armed groups took over the town. Now, they want to make us look bad by blaming us for their actions,” he says.

In Kiwanja, the Mai Mai militia and the Nyatura rebel group have been fighting each other for control of the city. “After the clashes, we retrieved a dozen bodies that we had to bury,” says a Red Cross employee.

The Nyatura’s Rwandan rebel allies, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) have also taken control of central Rutshura, as well as the town of Rubare.

“When they arrived, the FDLR headed straight to the campsite that the M23 had deserted and burned everything to the ground," says a Rubare inhabitant. "Apart from that, they’re not doing any harm, we watch them as they patrol around the village.”

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Society

What's Spoiling The Kids: The Big Tech v. Bad Parenting Debate

Without an extended family network, modern parents have sought to raise happy kids in a "hostile" world. It's a tall order, when youngsters absorb the fears (and devices) around them like a sponge.

Image of a kid wearing a blue striped sweater, using an ipad.

Children exposed to technology at a very young age are prominent today.

Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — A 2021 report from the United States (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey) found that 42% of the country's high-school students persistently felt sad and 22% had thought about suicide. In other words, almost half of the country's young people are living in despair and a fifth of them have thought about killing themselves.

Such chilling figures are unprecedented in history. Many have suggested that this might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but sadly, we can see depression has deeper causes, and the pandemic merely illustrated its complexity.

I have written before on possible links between severe depression and the time young people spend on social media. But this is just one aspect of the problem. Today, young people suffer frequent and intense emotional crises, and not just for all the hours spent staring at a screen. Another, possibly more important cause may lie in changes to the family composition and authority patterns at home.

Firstly: Families today have fewer members, who communicate less among themselves.

Young people marry at a later age, have fewer children and many opt for personal projects and pets instead of having children. Families are more diverse and flexible. In many countries, the number of children per woman is close to or less than one (Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong among others).

In Colombia, women have on average 1.9 children, compared to 7.6 in 1970. Worldwide, women aged 15 to 49 years have on average 2.4 children, or half the average figure for 1970. The changes are much more pronounced in cities and among middle and upper-income groups.

Of further concern today is the decline in communication time at home, notably between parents and children. This is difficult to quantify, but reasons may include fewer household members, pervasive use of screens, mothers going to work, microwave ovens that have eliminated family cooking and meals and, thanks to new technologies, an increase in time spent on work, even at home. Our society is addicted to work and devotes little time to minors.

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