SAVE VIRUNGA
Stop Oil Exploration in Africa's Oldest National Park
11-12-2013 Local chiefs urge SOCO’s activities to be stopped in Virunga. This is a declaration of local Leaders from the fisheries of Lake Edward in North Kivu: Vitshumbi, Nyakakoma, Kisaka, Kamandi, Lunyasenge, Taliha, Kyavinyonge. This statement came out during a workshop focusing on the participative management of Virunga National Park’s resources. They also call upon… Read More
15-06-2013 A large number of civil society organizations and local stakeholders signed a declaration demanding that the Congolese government takes meaningful action to protect the nature and people of Virunga National Park in DR Congo. The “Declaration of Butembo” urges the government to end the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the insecurity caused by… Read More
Are you ready to the join “la lucha” for Virunga’s Survival and the Rights of the Communities? LOCAL MOVEMENT Since 2010, local protest in and around Virunga National park in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been mounting against oil exploration in this World Heritage site. Many of these demonstrations have been directed against SOCO’s… Read More
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabreraletelier/3717642877/sizes/m/ Lire en français Congo has suspended the passage of a controversial oil bill through parliament, in order to allow more time for consultation. It has been criticised by MPs in Congo, donor governments, UNESCO and campaigners, including Global Witness, for failing to include strong anti-corruption or environmental protection measures. “The decision to suspend the… Read More
This month’s article in Africa Intelligence “Virunga a hot issue” reveals that it won’t be until November 2014 that the findings of the second phase of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), funded by the European Union, will be handed out to the Ministry of Hydrocarbon in DR-Congo. The SEA will be used to inform DRC Government… Read More
Excerpt from Business, Human Rights, and Uganda’s Oil Part II: Protect and Remedy: Implementing State duties under the UN Framework on Business and Human Rights The following is the second in a series of four reports exploring business and human rights issues in Uganda’s oil sector. This series is a collaboration between IPIS vsw and… Read More
Africa Progress Panel, and activist organizations such as Global Witness, request the postponement of the parliamentary vote on DRC oil bill and the inclusion of strong environmental safeguards and anti-corruption law. Chaired by Kofi Annan, the ten-member Africa Progress Panel advocates at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. In this article… Read More
Global Witness Announces Last Chance to Fix DRC Oil Bill… 14th January 2014 The Democratic Republic of Congo’s lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, has begun to debate a new oil bill which has been criticised by campaigners, MPs in Congo and donor governments. Global Witness is extremely concerned that the weak provisions of… Read More
Oil drilling may bring benefits in healthcare and education, but critics are concerned about corruption and the effect on wildlife Patience Akumu Most of Uganda’s oil is in the Albertine Graben region in the west of the country, an expanse of lush green vegetation that is home to about half of Africa’s bird species. There… Read More
We, people of Congo, urge SOCO’s Activities to be Stopped in Virunga ! We, local chiefs, representatives of fishermen, ship-owners, women’s groups, students, representatives of small and medium enterprises, environmental civil society and human rights defenders and local leaders urge DRC government: To call upon the oil company SOCO to stop using security services and… Read More
A Humanitarian Disaster in the Making Along the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline — Who’s Watching? By Brendan Schwartz, Valery Nodem . The discovery of oil in Chad was supposed to allieviate poverty and human suffering, but it’s only enriched Western Oil companies and the local dictators. December 1, 2009 | In 2000 Big Oil, the World… Read More
A murky deal for the Congo as oil exploration threatens corruption and environmental damage – and London-based Soco International is first in the queue . Weeks after putting down a rebellion, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing new oil laws that could open it up to vast corruption and put its… Read More
