What does it mean to be caught in the crossfire of a country’s conflict?  Millions of people around the world can answer that question right now. Many of them are in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hunger, homelessness, rape, and murder are part of their daily lives.  I was there in March, and I can tell you about some of the things I saw: congo-field-visit1

Sixty years after the main Geneva Conventions enshrined civilians’ rights to protection, those rights are being violated in every current conflict. In a new report, For a Safer Tomorrow,  Oxfam is calling for world powers to do a far better job of protecting ordinary people snared by violence.

“Must we be displaced forever?” asked one Congolese villager. “When will it end?”

Listen to Ed Cairns a senior policy advisor for Oxfam Great Britain, discuss with the Voice of America some of the ideas the report offers that could help answer that question.