A couple of weeks ago I shared the above image put together by Appfrica Labs that illustrates the “conspicuous correlation” between conflict areas and mining of coltan deposits (minerals used in many of our electronic devices). I wrote this quick analysis:

One of the major factors feeding genocide and violent crimes against humanity is that ruling regimes have established business relations with foreign companies, earning them an political ally and a source of revenue to fuel local conflict. The foreign companies often get exclusive access to local resources in exchange for their unwavering political support and usually a cut off the top. We have seen this in South Sudan with Chinese oil companies, and also in DRC with Coltan mining. This excellent report by Appfrica takes Ushahidi (conflict mapping) data and mashes it with mining data to illustrate the “conspicuous correlation” between the two. Coltan can be found in the capacitors used in your hearing aids, pacemakers, airbags, GPS units, laptops, mobile phones, video games, and the list goes on. 60% of it can be found in the DRC, where conflicts since 1998 have killed an estimated 5.4 million people.

A leading voice in the movement against genocide and humanitarian atrocity is The Enough Project. This organization, led by lifetime activist and fellow AU alum John Prendergast, works to generate awareness and lead the policy discussion around these serious global issues. A couple videos on YouTube really stood out today, and I wanted to share them with you so that hopefully you can share them with your friends, families, and blogging audiences. The first is “Conflict Minerals 101″ with John Prendergast himself providing an overview of the situation in Congo and how it relates to our electronic devices (and what we can do)!

The second video is the winner of Enough’s “Come Clean 4 Congo” video contest — very well done and a great movie to pass along on your Facebook wall or your own websites!

Please, help pass the message along to your own sphere’s of influence! Also, be sure to keep tabs with Enough Project via:

• Enough Project’s Website
• Enough Project’s Twitter
• Enough Project’s Facebook Page
• Enough Project’s YouTube Channel