Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1996–Present
Excerpt: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—known as Zaire until 1997—has suffered two wars since 1996. The first war in 1996 began as a direct result of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The second began in 1998 and involved the armed forces of at least seven countries and multiple militias. According to the International Rescue Committee, from 1998–2007 an estimated 5.4 million people died due to conflict in the DRC. Most of these deaths were from preventable diseases as a result of the collapse of infrastructure, lack of food security, displacement, and destroyed health-care systems.
This source was last updated in August 2021.
read more: https://www.ushmm.org/genocide-prevention/countries/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/1996-present
