During a private meeting on Sunday, John Kerry urged the Democratic Republic of Congo's President, Joseph Kabila, to abide by Congo's constitution and step down after his second term in office has ended. The United States is preparing to give Congo $30 million for aid in stability and democracy building, as long as Kabila agrees to not seek re-election. It has not been reported what Kabila's answer is yet and elections have tentatively been scheduled for 2016. Kerry also urged Kabila to unfreeze international adoptions of Congolese orphans.
The U.S. has given over 210 million dollars in democracy building aid and stability the past year. Majority of the money goes towards efforts to stop the Democratic Forces of Liberation of Rwanda, a Congo-rebel group, whose members have been accused of perpetrating the Rwandan genocide. Kerry has stated, ""I need to be clear: military force alone will not deliver stability to the Democratic Republic of Congo," Kerry said. "Lasting peace will not grow out of the barrel of a gun."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/04/congo-kerry-kabila-us-democratic-republic
Tess Godhardt
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