War Economies

July 2005 - In the Democratic Republic of Congo, more then 3 million people have died in wars since 1998. Paradoxically, the main reason for their deaths is the incredible richness of the country in terms of its natural resources.

The war in DRCongo is only one example of a wide spread system based on stealing of resources by warfare in order to expand the wealth of those who have power: a mechanism known as war economy.
Novib supported the realisation of the three-part documentary series War Economies, which will be broadcasted in January 2006. The series aims to unravel the system of war economies, in order to make viewers aware of the problem, reveal their own complicity as consumers and force them to think about solutions, a process that may well mean a change in consumer behavior.

In three episodes, different aspects of war economies will be explored. The first episode will explain the overall mechanism of war economies, the second episode will raise questions about the situation in war torn areas after peace agreements have been signed. The final episode will explore the possible solutions to transform war economies into economies that profit from their natural resources instead of suffer from them.
War economies has been made possible by Novib, NCDO, NiZA and Fatal Transactions.