Story
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<p><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 10pt 0cm; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Thank you all for donations received so far over the year! We haven’t quite reached the target but I think we can be proud of the amount we have raised and I will be continuing to donate until we reach the £2000 mark. </span><span style="font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"></span></p>
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<span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presents one of the world's deadliest emergencies to date. More than 5.4 million people have died since 1998. The death toll is the equivalent to an Asian Tsunami every 6.5 months; a September 11th every 2.5 days.</span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This conflict has particularly affected women and girls as they are systematically raped as a combat strategy to terrorise and humiliate. Tens-of-thousands of women and girls have experienced sexual violence - some raped whilst on the way to school, others while fetching water, and many are kept as sex slaves for soldiers. The situation is so extreme that Margot Wallström, the UN’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, has recently called DR Congo the “rape capital of the world.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Women for Women International has been working in Congo since </span><strong><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">2003</span></strong><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> helping women survivors of war. We offer skills training, trauma counselling, microcredit loans. Our programmes make a huge difference in helping women earn an income, support their families, and help rebuild their societies. Indeed, women who have participated in WfWI programmes on average earn 50 percent more than women who have not and are three times as likely to vote and participate in community activities.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Further details about these appauling crimes can be found in following the links below</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/48-women-raped-hour-congo">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/48-women-raped-hour-congo</a></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/21/congo-rape-trial">http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/21/congo-rape-trial</a> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3426273.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3426273.stm</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07congo.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07congo.html</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/60minutes/main3701249.shtml">http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/60minutes/main3701249.shtml</a></p>
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