As students, staff and friends of Flinders University, we can make a difference by encouraging the university to pass a resolution giving preference to conflict free electronics!

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been experiencing continuous wars since 1996, which have caused more deaths than any war since World War II. The wars are fuelled in part by the country’s rich natural resource, including tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold. These minerals are used in all electronics, even though they generate funds that fuel violence, rape and murder in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government and police in Congo are in disarray and are unable to control the fighting, with groups working unaccounted for and using rape and murder to control civilians and workers in the mines, and even to reward soldiers. According to the Enough Project, over 5.5 million have died in the country from war-related causes since 1996. Despite the signing of a peace treaty in 2003, violence continues to plague the country and more than 2.5 million people live as refugees as a result of the wars.

The Conflict Free Campus Initiative is a joint program of the Enough Project and STAND, the student-led movement to end mass atrocities. It encourages students who care about the way that their actions are inadvertently supporting violence, to ask the leaders of their campus to consider companies’ records of corporate social responsibility on this issue in their procurement and investment policies. Companies such as Intel and HP commit to using only certified Conflict-free minerals in their products. The initiative does not support the boycotting of mineral companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but aims to support Congolese companies that trade certified Congo-sourced conflict-free minerals. The initiative will not only create a conflict-free campus but will also educate students about the effects of their actions as consumers and pressure major electronics companies to responsibly purchase minerals from Congo.

Let's change this and stop fuelling the violence!