Confronted with the images of war, famine and natural disaster that pervade the newspapers and television screens it is easy to become jaded. Not only do the problems across the world seem insurmountable, there is still social and economic disparity within the wealthiest nations. For instance, some people believe that it is not only futile, but malapropos to stand against child exploitation in the Congo whilst children are still exploited in the US and the EU.

This however, represents a woefully insular view of the world, ignoring the correlation between child labor in the west and the migration of peoples attempting to escape the abject poverty of their birth. Furthermore the logical extension of this perspective suggests that we should wait until we have created a utopia prior to assisting those less fortunate and perceived as far off, unrelated. It is not possible to create a perfect society, though we are in a position to make the world a more principled place.

In 1998 war broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sparked by ethnic tensions and fuelled as factions, including Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda fought over its natural resources. The war lasted for four years, and in that time it has been estimated that between three and four million people lost their lives; a further three million displaced from their homes. The child miners of the Congo are the current victims of the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.

The situation in the Congo and contemporary life across the EU and US is simply incomparable. If we are not prepared to assist those in the midst of a truly cataclysmic event then there is little hope that we will ever summon the aptitude to improve our own societies. The luxurious decision of who should stand against the abuse of child labor in the Congo has past, the altogether more complex question of how is the issue in need of address.

Columbite-tantalite (coltan) is a mineral that once refined becomes vital to the production of many electronic devices, such as, computers, digital cameras, games consoles and mobile phones. The technology boom of the 1990s caused a massive inflation in the value of coltan. This high price coupled with the fact that coltan can be mined using relatively primitive methods ensured that the Congo's store, up to 85% of the world's reserve, became highly prized.

There is a real possibility that many of the electronic devices we enjoy daily have been derived from the misery of

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