Site Launch: Raise Hope for Congo

The story is a grim one.

It's the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. Over 5 million dead. One million displaced. An epidemic of rape. A seemingly hopeless situation.

Fortunately, our friends at the Enough Project have not given up on peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Earlier this month, with help from Forum One, they launched an entirely refreshed RaiseHopeForCongo.org. The site is a hub for activists who wish to change government and corporate policies that contribute to the conflict.

In particular, Enough has been working tirelessly to bring attention to the problem of "conflict minerals." Congo is rich in tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold, which are used in laptops, cell phones, and other electronics. Control of these valuable resources is central to the disputes. Profits from mineral sales are a principal source of revenue for the country's armed militias.

That's why Enough is petitioning the 21 largest electronics manufacturers to verify that the minerals used in their products are conflict-free. As a leading cellphone manufacturer who purportedly champions corporate responsibility, Apple is a primary target. Enough has rallied at an Apple Store opening in Georgetown, DC, released an Apple spoof video (embedded below), and even generated a response from Steve Jobs.

This past Sunday, Enough's efforts surrounding the new site were written up in a column by Nicholas Kristof, the Pulitzer-prize journalist at the New York Times. 

As for the site itself, the new RaiseHopeforCongo.org represents a major improvement to the campaign presence we helped them first launch in 2008. The site provides a much better space for people looking to learn and take action. The navigation and page layout have been simplified, page lengths have been shortened, and action opportunities are omnipresent.

The site's creative design was inspired by the vibrant colors of the clothing worn by the women and girls of Congo — a tribute to those who have too often born the brunt of the conflict.

The Drupal content management system serves as the technological underpinnings of the site, which we've used to create four sites for Enough Project so far. There are benefits to this unified platform. For instance, it offered straightforward interoperability and integration to enable blog posts tagged as "Eastern Congo" on EnoughProject.org to simultaneously publish to RaiseHopeForCongo.org as well.

Allow me to to briefly recognize the team who created the site:

• Sarah Hassaine, Project Manager
• Dan Crowder, Technical Lead/Developer
• Tsegaye Hidru, Developer (with Enough Project)
• Corey Lafferty, Interface Engineer
• Brian Verhoeven, Information Architect

I hope you like the site, and will do your part to help raise hope for Congo.