Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The workers travel over hills and into valleys. They follow small paths through the jungle and forest. They ride on motorcycles, in cars and by bicycle. Sometimes they walk long distances. Sometimes, they travel on rivers, by canoe. They enter wealthy homes, and very poor ones. They go everywhere, even under the worst conditions. And more importantly, they talk to everyone. What are these workers doing? They are gathering information about people's lives and deaths in one of the world's worst conflicts - the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Voice 2
These people work for the International Rescue Committee. This organization helps people affected by war. It brings emergency help and medical aid to conflict areas. It helps refugees. And it works for human rights. That is why the organisation has workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo - the DRC.
Voice 1
The workers are doing a mortality study. They are investigating and recording the causes of death in the ongoing civil war in the DRC. Normally, governments record the number of deaths and births in their own country. In this way, they know about their population. They know facts like average age, family size and the issues that affect people. So they can change policies to better serve their people. Information like this is also important to aid organizations and international agencies. They use it to plan their work.
Voice 2
But conflict changes this situation. In the middle of a conflict, governments usually cannot keep good records. And this means that it is unclear what problems are affecting normal people until it is too late.
Voice 1
This is the situation in the DRC. Since the 1990s, this country has been involved in civil war. The DRC is a large country, one of the largest in Africa. And it has many natural resources, especially valuable minerals, such as copper, cobalt and diamonds.
Voice 2
But these natural resources have not brought peace. Instead, they have usually brought conflict. Through the DRC's recent history, different groups have controlled the country. But they did not usually care about the people. They only cared about gaining wealth. For many years, the area was a colony of Belgium. In 1960, the country became independent. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Joseph Mobutu ruled the country. During this time, the DRC became known for corruption. If you wanted something done, you had to pay a government official a secret bribe. Foreign companies with lots of money paid to work in the country. But no one worked for the people. Roads were not fixed. Buildings fell apart. Hospitals, clinics and schools were not well supported.
Voice 1
In the late 1990s, anti-Mobutu rebels defeated the government. But they did not bring order to the country. Since then, rebel groups have continued to fight for control of the DRC. Also, rebels from neighbouring countries have been using faraway parts of the DRC to hide. And sadly, this continuing conflict has had terrible effects for the people of the DRC.
Voice 2
The International Rescue Committee tells the sad story of Victor Bahoya and his family. In 1998, the war reached their village. They left, and hid in the mountains. When they returned, their village was in a terrible condition. Their home was gone. And their farm had been badly damaged. Many people in the village were sick with disease. But there were no doctors or clinics close enough to help. Women had been raped. And children were stolen to become soldiers.
Voice 1
Sadly, it seemed that no one would help them. People like the Bahoyas and their village were far away from other people. And they were poor. As a result, few people knew what was happening in their village, and the many other village areas affected by the conflict.
Voice 2
The International Rescue Committee did see the situation. They had been working in the DRC since 1996. They saw the situation getting worse. But they also knew that few people knew or cared about the conflict. They called it the "forgotten emergency".
Voice 1
This is why they decided to do a mortality study. Since 2000, they have done five mortality studies. If they could find out how many people were dying in the conflict, and why, then they would know how to react. And it would show the world the seriousness of the situation.
Voice 2
The method for each study is the same. The war has damaged the roads, so getting to some areas was difficult. It took a long time. But the workers knew that they must travel to even the most faraway places. The workers questioned people in every place. For the 2008 study, they visited over forty-eight thousand [48,000] homes. They asked people a particular set of questions. These included "Has anyone in your home died?" "When did this happen?" and "How did the person die?" Using the answers, researchers made estimates of the human cost of the war.
Voice 1
They have discovered that more than 5,400,000 people have died as a result of this conflict since 1998. This makes it the second worst conflict in the world's history. 98 percent of these deaths were from preventable diseases, including malaria, diarrhoea, and malnutrition. Many people just cannot get the help they need. The death rate is 60 percent higher than the average in sub-Saharan Africa.
Voice 2
These numbers shocked the world. And it has made many more groups get involved in work there. But sadly, the conflict has continued. Rebel groups continue to attack villages. And today, many people know about the terrible sexual crimes common in some areas of the DRC.
Voice 1
But there are signs of hope. The 2008 study showed that the death rate has slowed in some eastern areas of the country. And the International Rescue Committee has been able to use the research to plan their work. Because health problems are a major concern, they have worked to rebuild health systems, including hospitals, schools and clinics. They have supported projects to prevent sexual crimes, and to support the victims of these crimes. And they are working with people like Victor Bahoya. Victor is now involved in his village's development committee, supported by the International Rescue Committee. He told them,
Voice 3
"The people here are hungry for development. If we can all continue working together, then even war cannot ruin us."
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