The countryside in Eastern Congo is scarred with mines of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold – precious minerals which are essential for products like mobile phones, cars, aeroplanes and jewellery.
Armed groups, including parts of the Congolese national army, have preyed on this lucrative trade to fund a brutal war in eastern Congo for almost 20 years, leaving over 1.4 million people displaced from their homes.
In recent years international efforts have aimed to change this situation by asking firms to take responsibility for what is happening along their mineral supply chains.
But, these international efforts will fall short unless firms take responsibility for their full supply chain, including the people who extract the minerals from the ground.
These are the stories of the people at the very bottom of the international mineral supply chain.
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