International

Citizens, Monitors Pin Hopes on Congo's Elections

By Jason Beaubien

Published July 18, 2006 at 1:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing for its first democratic elections since 1960. Western nations are spending $400 million to help the polling go smoothly.

The United Nations has dispatched 17,000 troops -- its biggest peacekeeping mission in the world -- to help stabilize the vast country.

The people of Congo hope the elections will help end the corruption and civil war that have plagued the nation for decades.

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International

Jason Beaubien

Jason Beaubien is a Peabody award-winning journalist. He's filed stories from more than 60 countries around the world. His reporting tends to focus on issues in lower-income countries. Often his reports highlight inequities, injustices and abuses of power. He also regularly writes about natural disasters, wars and human conflict. Over the last two decades he's covered hurricanes in the Caribbean, typhoons in the Philippines, multiple earthquakes in Haiti, the Arab Spring, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the drug war in Mexico.

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