BMS World Mission

Congo Week

Listen here to the BMS Congo Week Podcast


Nearly six million people have died and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped in D R Congo since 1996, as a result of fighting that is funded by and usually over the country's mineral wealth.

Congo Week is all about raising awareness of the continuing conflict in Congo and breaking the relative media and political silence that has surrounded what the UN has called the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.

What you can do


  • Participate in the Cell Out on Wednesday 22 October, a six-hour mobile phone boycott to highlight the role played by demand for Coltan (a mineral essential in the manufacture of mobile phones and found mainly in eastern Congo) in the Congolese genocide. Click here for more details and remember to get your friends, family and church to join!
  • Pray for peace in Congo, a just peace, where Congo's rich resources benefit the Congolese people and not a handful of foreign companies or violent militias. Click here to download a Christian liturgy you could use in your church or small group.
  • Inform yourself and spread the word, using facts and understanding to ensure that we do not forget Congo or accept unhelpful falacies that suggest 'Africa is just like that'. Download talking points and fact sheets by clicking here and here
  • Don't forget about Congo when the week is up. Inform yourself by watching the video below and some others here.

This video was made by the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting: