UMCOR Democratic Republic of Congo

UMCOR Co-Sponsors Bipartisian Event to Support the Democratic Republic of Congo

13 June 2006

UMCOR supplies items such as seeds, tools and equipment or training enable returnees to obtain their own food through farming or fishing thereby generating their own living wage. Credit: UMCOR.

Washington, DC, June 13, 2006--United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is co-sponsoring a June 14 reception hosted by top members of Congress and leading development organizations. “The Year of the Democratic Republic of Congo: Democracy, Security and Saving Lives" June 14 anticipates the central African country’s first multiparty elections in more than 40 years on July 30. The event will take place in Washington, D.C. at the Dirksen Senate Building.

Other sponsors are CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry, IFES, the International Rescue Committee, Oxfam America, Refugees International, and World Vision. Hosts are Senators Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) along with Representatives Tom Lantos (D-Calif) and Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.).

The event features an expert panel and a 17-minute film, “The Human Cost of the Crisis in Congo” produced by Ross Mountain, deputy special representative of the United Nations secretary-general for the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 2006 film documents the country’s humanitarian crisis, the fragile security situation after its five-year civil war and the progress being made to organize the elections.

UMCOR operates agriculture, educational, and health programs in the DRC.