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Vote counting began in Kenya on Monday after largely peaceful elections.  Millions of voters stood in line to choose their next president in a tightly contested general election. Kenya’s last elections in 2007 were the catalyst for a terrifying wave of violence that swept the nation. More than 1,500 people were killed, most by armed gangs of youth stirred up by local politicians. Mercy Corps has been working with the government and thousands of youth groups for the past two years to build a grassroots movement to choose peace, empowering them to transform their lives and their country. Read more.

Vote counting began in Kenya on Monday after largely peaceful elections.  Millions of voters stood in line to choose their next president in a tightly contested general election.

Kenya’s last elections in 2007 were the catalyst for a terrifying wave of violence that swept the nation. More than 1,500 people were killed, most by armed gangs of youth stirred up by local politicians.

Mercy Corps has been working with the government and thousands of youth groups for the past two years to build a grassroots movement to choose peace, empowering them to transform their lives and their country.

Read more.

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Many children like this little girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo have never known a permanent home. Conflict here is chronic and unpredictable. When fighting breaks out, families move their few belongings from camp to camp and set up makeshift shelters on the bare lava rock. Mercy Corps has been working to meet the immediate needs of displaced families in DRC since 2007. We’ve distributed emergency food and other supplies, but our main focus is on getting enough clean water to camps and the city of Goma. New reservoirs and pumps are delivering clean drinking water, while more latrines and handwashing stations are preventing disease. Photo by Gerry Ellis for Mercy Corps

Many children like this little girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo have never known a permanent home.

Conflict here is chronic and unpredictable. When fighting breaks out, families move their few belongings from camp to camp and set up makeshift shelters on the bare lava rock.

Mercy Corps has been working to meet the immediate needs of displaced families in DRC since 2007. We’ve distributed emergency food and other supplies, but our main focus is on getting enough clean water to camps and the city of Goma. New reservoirs and pumps are delivering clean drinking water, while more latrines and handwashing stations are preventing disease.

Photo by Gerry Ellis for Mercy Corps

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Last year a teenage girl arrived at one of Mercy Corps’ counseling centers in the Central African Republic. She had been kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army, raped and forcefully married to a soldier. She escaped with her baby two years later, but how could she begin again? Read her story.

Last year a teenage girl arrived at one of Mercy Corps’ counseling centers in the Central African Republic. She had been kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army, raped and forcefully married to a soldier. She escaped with her baby two years later, but how could she begin again?

Read her story.

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Our team in northern #Mali warns that families will run out of food unless access to the embattled region improves.  Since military operations began in January, most vendors like this man have fled the area to protect their stocks from looting. Markets are almost completely shut down and food supplies are rapidly running out. Read more.

Our team in northern #Mali warns that families will run out of food unless access to the embattled region improves.  Since military operations began in January, most vendors like this man have fled the area to protect their stocks from looting. Markets are almost completely shut down and food supplies are rapidly running out. Read more.

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The road to Bangassou, in the Central African Republic. Original photo by Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps

The road to Bangassou, in the Central African Republic.

Original photo by Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps

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African farmers are finding that mobile connectivity can make or break their harvests. Read more.

African farmers are finding that mobile connectivity can make or break their harvests. Read more.

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Has Kenya recovered from 2007’s election violence? We’re standing with youth who built a movement for peace.

Has Kenya recovered from 2007’s election violence? We’re standing with youth who built a movement for peace.

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We’re happy to announce that we are resuming our work in the Central African Republic! (A rebel advance had forced us to evacuate earlier this month.) Photo by Sean Sheridan

We’re happy to announce that we are resuming our work in the Central African Republic! (A rebel advance had forced us to evacuate earlier this month.)

Photo by Sean Sheridan

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When rebels invaded Goma, eastern Congo’s largest city, tens of thousands were forced to flee as the battle approached their homes. Mercy Corps is delivering clean water and emergency aid to families trying to stay safe in overcrowded camps until threats of violence subside.

Follow the latest updates.

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While there’s no panacea to the DR Congo’s myriad of problems, only a sustained focus on long-term development will break the cycle of conflict and poverty. Current humanitarian interventions are critical, but even in the current hostilities, development agencies, donors and governments must find ways to lay the foundation for lasting change. Let us not turn our backs on DR Congo at such a critical moment.

Simon O’Connell, Mercy Corps’ Regional Program Director for Africa. Read the rest of Simon’s piece.

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Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.

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