Making an Impact:  Follow-Up Activities to the “Promoting Human Security in the DRC Conference”

1.        Website:  www.fletcher.tufts.edu/humansecurity.  If you haven’t already visited this site, you will find the briefs (in English and translated into French), conference readings (some new papers too), workshop descriptions, and the participant list.  This website will be updated regularly.

2.        Administrative Support: Tsering Gellek and Jill Vandenbrule have been hired for the next 4-6 months to provide administrative support and structure to follow-up on the conference.

3.        Briefings:

  • US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs was briefed by 3 of the DC participants
  • UK Foreign Secretary was briefed March 4th
  • Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was briefed the week of March 4th. 
  • Conference participant met with EC Ministers of Development Cooperation in Spain, including lengthy discussion with Clare Short.
  • Briefs sent to IRIN to be posted (more websites will be linked to the conference). 
  • An official memo will be sent shortly by Julia Taft to UN Panel on Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources

    • 4.        Publicity and Outreach:

  • Two op-eds –one on diplomatic and one on economic concerns--- have been written and submitted to Tufts’ press officer.
  • Another op-ed has been prepared for a major Belgian newspaper. 
  • Press conference to be held shortly in Kinshasa.