United Nations, New York, November 25, 2008 International humanitarian organization World Vision will present new findings to the United Nations Security Council today on the sexual violence against women and girls that has characterized the brutal conflict in eastern Congo.One month after hostilities intensified in the volatile region, World Vision is warning that protection for civilians, particularly women and children, continues to be the most urgent and unmet need.

"A silent war has been waged against women and children," says Sue Mbaya, World Vision's Africa advocacy director and speaker at today's UN Security Council Arria Formula briefing by NGOs.

"Women and girls in the hundreds have been targets of opportunistic and brutal rape, while children are also being targeted for recruitment or re-recruitment as child soldiers," Mbaya explains.

Surveys among children coming to the World Vision's Child-Friendly Spaces in six displacement camps found that 120 girls under the age of 17 reported being raped in October, compared to only five reported cases in twelve Child-Friendly Spaces between April and June. The six camps recently surveyed are located in Goma, Shasha and Minova.

Repeated displacements, separation of children from family members, and the vulnerable conditions of camp life are contributing to ongoing sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers, according to Mbaya.

"Children as young as seven have been forced to fight," explains Mbaya, "Some children are being abducted and others are joining armed groups voluntarily because they lack food and access to education or vocational skills."

Mbaya stresses that long-term development to address the region's poverty is only possible if peace and stability are achieved. In the short-term, DR Congo remains a largely neglected emergency, with an inadequate amount of humanitarian assistance compared to the need. Finally, continued insecurity is limiting the ability of aid groups to effectively reach those most in need.

World Vision is calling for the UN Security Council to review and focus MONUC's mandate so that civilian protection is the peacekeeping operation's first priority, particularly the protection of women and girls against sexual and gender-based violence.

The agency has distributed emergency items, including blankets, plastic sheeting, sleeping mats, soap, cooking equipment, and mosquito nets, to more than 20,000 displaced people, and hopes to reach more than 200,000 people with its programme in the next two months. World Vision is also providing therapeutic food to community-based centers in the region, which has seen an increase in children suffering from malnutrition since the renewed fighting.

World Vision is also implementing strategies to protect women and girls from sexual violence, including fuel-efficient stoves that require fewer dangerous trips outside the camp to collect firewood, and community-based protection committees that monitor violence in the camps and escort women in activities that expose them to threats. To help treat victims of sexual violence as well as other injured children and adults, World Vision is distributing medications worth $115,000 to four hospitals in Goma next week.

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Interviews can be arranged with World Vision policy experts as well as aid workers on the scene. High-quality digital photos and video b-roll are available.

For more information or to organise an interview with World Vision staff in eastern DRC, contact Anna Ridout on +243 998769821 or anna.ridout@worldvision.org.uk

Notes to Editor: -World Vision's full briefing paper to the UN Security Council is available upon request.

-The UN's Arria Formula is a meeting where non-state parties brief members of the UN Security Council about international peace and security issues, and is the highest level of official engagement between the Security Council and NGOs. The meetings usually occur when the Security Council faces pending decisions, such as upcoming discussions to renew MONUC's mandate, which expires at the end of December.

-World Vision is calling for the following actions to be taken to address the conflict in eastern DRC:

1) Immediate Ceasefire. That all parties implement and maintain an immediate ceasefire.

2) Negotiated Settlement. The only lasting solution for this conflict is a negotiated settlement, not a military solution. The UN-appointed mediator must work closely with the international community, in particular, the US, UK and the EU, to broker a comprehensive peace agreement, including viable solutions to disarming and demobilizing the FDLR and CNDP.

3) A Unified Peacekeeping Operation. The proliferation of multiple peacekeeping frameworks could further destabilize this fragile situation. Any additional forces sent by regional bodies or other nations should increase the capacity of MONUC to provide stability, civilian protection, and humanitarian space.

4) A Focused Peacekeeping Mandate. Too many competing priorities have been demanded of MONUC. The UNSC must review and focus MONUC's mandate so that civilian protection is its first priority, particularly the protection of women and girls against gender-based violence.

5) Humanitarian Resources. The donor community should immediately make additional resources available to address increased displacement, particularly addressing the needs of children, who make up 50% of IDPs and are highly vulnerable to recruitment by armed forces. In addition: -Support to Host Communities. Resources are urgently needed to support host communities who are absorbing many of those newly displaced, as well as the expanding health threats found in IDP camps. -Humanitarian corridors. The donor community should prioritize the establishment of humanitarian corridors for the safe, effective delivery of assistance, as well as the safe movement of IDPs to camps. 6) Preserve Humanitarian Neutrality. To better protect civil-military boundaries, OCHA must more robustly engage in negotiating humanitarian space on the ground, so as to preserve the impartiality and access for all humanitarian actors. 7) Address Natural Resources Funding Conflict. Access and control of DRC's abundant natural resources is one of the root causes that continue to both fund and drive conflict and instability. The international community and key industries must work closely with all regional governments to design systems to ensure that natural resources are supporting legitimate economic development.