Elisabeth Schreinemacher

NEW YORK, Oct 4 2005 (IPS) — Five photojournalists are hoping their work will refocus the world’s attention on the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where “millions have died in little more than seven years while we caress the cat and fret over which disaster to watch on television”.

The photo exhibit, titled “Democratic Republic of the Congo: Forgotten War”, is a joint project by Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and VII Photo Agency.

It focuses on the work of five photographers who recently spent time in the DRC: Ron Haviv, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Joachim Ladefoged, and James Nachtwey.

The five are part of the VII Photo Agency, which is collectively owned by seven photojournalists. Together they document conflicts around the world to produce a record of the injustices created and experienced by humans.

“We are trying to raise awareness through the exhibition, through the book, through the web and through multimedia film,” Ron Haviv told IPS at the opening reception on Sep. 21. “We try to get as many people aware of what has happened and what is continuing to happen today.”

With the support of the international humanitarian organisation MSF, the photographers visited the Democratic Republic of Congo from May through August 2005, documenting the impact on life there of decades of war, genocide, disease and hunger.

MSF is an independent humanitarian group that delivers emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries. Today MSF has more than 160 international volunteers and over 1,800 national staff in six provinces of the DRC.

The exhibit touches on issues many Congolese face every day, such as militia attacks, sexual violence and epidemics of diseases like malaria.

The pictures show patients at an MSF AIDS clinic in Bukavu in South Kivu Province, sex workers at their compound in Kinshasa, and patients at L’Hospital de Bon Marché in Bunia.

An estimated 3 million people are infected with HIV in the DRC, and health experts in the country warn that HIV/AIDS could threaten more than half the population in the next decade.

MSF is one of many NGOs concerned about the ongoing threatening situation in the DRC. On Sep. 28, Amnesty International issued a report on the DRC in which the organisation warns that if the current tense situation in North-Kivu is not defused, a renewal of large-scale armed conflict is likely.

“The death toll of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the highest ever attributed to war in Africa or anywhere in the world since World War Two,” Haviv said. “There truly is an amazing, staggering number of deaths that has occurred in the DRC in the last seven years. It is important for us as citizens of the world to acknowledge what is happening and take some responsibility for what is going on.”

“We want to draw attention to the suffering of the people in the Congo and bring awareness about it. It is hard to do that for the Congo, in part because of the immensity of the country and the logistical obstacles,” he said.

Nicolas de Torrente, executive director of MSF in the United States, added that, “The chronic, ongoing suffering has made the media numb. It is our most underreported country every year. This is what we think these pictures can help do. They don’t cover everything, but they provide a window for what is going on in the Congo.”

Elections to replace the current transitional government had originally been scheduled for June 2005, but due to a number of logistical factors, they were postponed until 2006, by June at the latest.

The plan for successful elections was largely constrained by a lack of resources. For example, at least 13.6 million voters have been registered, but the process has been hampered by a lack of infrastructure and communication, leaving half the electorate still unregistered. The country’s constitutional referendum is now scheduled to take place later this year, before the first extension of the transition government expires on Dec. 31.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known by the French acronym MONUC, was first deployed in November 1999. It is mandated to assist the DRC government in reforming the security forces and organising elections. With 16,000 troops, it is currently the world body’s biggest peacekeeping operation.

The exhibition will be open for viewing at Engine 27 in New York until Oct. 8, and after that will tour the United States, Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa. It will also be shown in the Congo and in neighbouring countries, such as Uganda and Kenya.