U.N. Ups Anti-Rape Training for Congo Peacekeepers

By Amy Lieberman

WeNews correspondent

Friday, October 22, 2010

Wallstrom, the U.N.'s point person on sexual violence in conflict, returned last week from the scene of a mass rape attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is determined to launch a new type of sexual-violence training for peacekeepers.

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'Peacekeepers Lack Clear Doctrine'

Erin Weir, senior advocate for peacekeeping of Refugees International, a Washington- based advocacy group for displacement crises, said that well before Wallstrom's appointment it had become clear that peacekeepers lacked a clear doctrine for providing vulnerable communities with effective protection.

"Within the past year or so, there's been a lot of discussion within think tanks about scenario-based training and the need for that," she said.

In her briefing, Wallstrom highlighted two recent arrests of rebel leaders implicated in the mass rapes.

She also appealed to European countries and other U.N. member states to enact legislation similar to a recently passed U.S. law that requires companies to disclose whether their products contain minerals sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo and other conflict regions.

Better tracking of the source of minerals is expected to reduce rebel activity and gangland competition for control of mines associated with the persistent problem of mass rapes in the region. In 2009, 15,000 Congolese women are estimated to have been raped in the troubled mining region, which produces diamonds, gold, copper and coltan, essential for making cell phones, DVD players, video game systems and computers.

In addition to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Wallstrom has visited Liberia in recent months. She is soon expected to highlight sexual violence in countries outside of Africa and is considering special projects focused on Bosnia, Nepal, Colombia and Timor-Leste.