Congo’s Conflict Minerals: U.S. Legislation and Impacts on the Ground

The world’s deadliest conflict has persisted in remote regions of eastern Congo, in part because more than a decade of international efforts to negotiate peace had neglected to address the profit motivations fueling the violence. That changed on July 23, 2010, when President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and its requirements for companies trading in Congo’s conflict minerals.

Congressional action on Congo is in part the result of a growing grassroots movement determined to bring an end to the war. This movement is fed up with a “see no evil” approach from the end users of Congo’s minerals, particularly consumer electronics companies for whom minerals plentiful in Congo are critical.

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This article was originally published in Foreign Policy Digest.