Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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December 18, 2008

Ben Affleck, UN Team Up to Raise DRC Refugee Awareness
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2114FDB:A6F02AD83191E16012AE7E834D3725F65C6F54A6CF9DC2CA&
 
Short film released highlighting plight of refugees in Democratic
Republic of the Congo 
      Ben Affleck (2nd from left, on stage) introduces a short film
"Gimme Shelter," shot in the North Kivu region of DRC, 17 Dec
2008American actor and activist Ben Affleck has teamed-up with the
United Nations releasing a short film highlighting the plight of
refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the last 10 years,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been riddled with conflicts.
More than five million people have been killed and more than a million
others displaced. Children have been recruited to fight, two out of
three women have been the victims of violent rape, and families have
been torn apart as they try to survive. Academy Award-winning actor and
director Ben Affleck has taken a strong interest in Africa, visiting the
continent many times to learn more about its conflicts. His latest
project is a four-minute film showing the horrors of life as a Congolese
refugee. The public service announcement was created for the United
Nation's Gimme Shelter campaign. The film is set to the Rolling Stones'
Gimme Shelter song, which Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the band,
donated to the campaign. The footage was shot on Affleck's most recent
trip to the North Kivu region of eastern Congo - the epicenter of
fighting between rebel and government forces that resumed in August. The
United Nations hopes the campaign will raise awareness about the very
real, but neglected situation of displaced persons in the Congo. For his
part, Affleck says he hopes the film will move people to demand action
from their leaders."When awareness is raised, when constituencies start
to pay attention, they are more likely to pay attention to that one
thing than another," said Ben Affleck. "What I can do is care about
something. What I can do is make it important to my elected officials.
Diplomacy is free." In addition to raising awareness, the Gimme Shelter
campaign hopes to raise $23 million in 2009 for emergency humanitarian
assistance kits to help displaced persons in the DRC. The film will be
distributed worldwide th
rough the Internet, television, mobile phones, cinemas, and hotel
chains. 


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