The UN has lent its support to government efforts to drive out rebels. But ordinary people are suffering as a result
Furaha, a 40 year-old mother, was working in her field when she was seized by a group of armed men and raped. For the next six months she served as their sex slave and was forced to sleep with around six men a day.
"One day they beat me so hard that I thought I was dead; they left me there and I don't know how long I was unconscious. The first thing I remember is the peacekeepers rescuing me."
Furaha's story shows why 10 years into its mission, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's UN peacekeeping force – better known by its French acronym Monuc – is as vital as ever. She literally owes them her life.
But the UN has taken a wrong turn and Monuc has let down the very people it was meant to help. This year a military strategy, planned by the Congolese government and backed by the UN, aimed to bring peace by aggressive action against a rebel group. But it has gone catastrophically awry.
