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The US government will not mobilize unless their constituents demand they do. Consumers are motivated by ad campaigns similar to the anti-poverty campaign of One.org and redirected profits to fight HIV/AIDS like JoinRed.com. There is no reason at all a similar program couldn't be set up to raise awareness of child labor in the Congo. A portion of the price for electronics could finance U.N. peacekeepers.

When it comes to natural resources, Congo is one of the world's wealthiest.(1) If the coltan-rich African nations could be stabilized and allowed peace long enough to truly profit from their natural wealth and defeat corruption, they could become one of the most prosperous countries in the world. With the current demand for electronics so high and likely to increase for generations, there is no reason why a few decades from now, Central Africa could not become as powerful and respected (or at least as feared) as a group of nations like OPEC.

There is much work to be done, but we must take it on. If a child can mine coltan from rock, then the richest nations of the world can shape the world so he doesn't have to.

SOURCES RESEARCHED (NOT ALL ARE REFERENCED ABOVE)

(1) Millions have died for our cell phones. By Mvemba Phezo Dizolele. St Louis Post-Dispatch. 10/05/2006. http://www.pulitzercenter.org/ openitem.cfm?id=276
(2) Website: Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct http://www.canadiandiamondcode ofconduct.ca/index.htm
(3) Website: The Conflict-Free Diamond Council http://www.conflictfreediamond s.org/
(4) Website: What You Can Do to Avoid Buying a Conflict Diamond. http://jewelry.about.com/cs/di amondmining/a/diamonds.htm
(5) Website: EITI Criteria. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. http://www.eitransparency.org/ eiti/criteria
(6) How to End the Deadliest War in Africa. By Mvemba Phezo Dizolele. http://www.hoover.org/publicat ions/digest/4635761.html
(7) In Search of Congo's Coltan. By Mvemba Phezo Dizolele. Pambazuka News. 08/08/2007 http://www.pulitzercenter.org/ openitem.cfm?id=529

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