This blog is written by David Sullivan, Research Associate at Enough, the project to end genocide and crimes against humanity at the Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C.

The minerals underneath the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may not have caused the atrocities that have wracked its people for far too long, but that shouldn't mean we allow them to continue to fuel flagrant crimes against humanity.

Despite billions of dollars spent on aid, peacekeeping, and elections, Congo's conflict has doggedly resisted resolution. An alphabet soup of armed groups continues to wreak havoc on Congo's civilian population - in part because profit maximising pressures for inexpensive mobile phones and laptops have driven international demand for the minerals which keep the country's militias well-funded.

This demand consistently outpaces efforts to create state authorities willing and able to restore order and regulate the trade of Congo's wealth for the benefit of its people.

Reducing the means by which the most egregious actors, particularly the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels linked to the Rwandan genocide, are able to sustain themselves is critical to making Congo's conflict manageable.

Equally clearly, without a credible effort to take on the problem of conflict minerals, Congo's militias will remain a perpetual motion machine, ruining countless lives in the process.

Beyond natural resources, complex and highly contested questions of land tenure, citizenship and identity have also driven conflict in Congo at the local, national, and regional levels. But getting to a point where such issues can be negotiated requires immediate steps to stop the financing of the most flagrant rights abusers.

CUTTING REBEL FUNDS

Reducing demand for the minerals that benefit armed groups is a critical entry point for a wider peace strategy.

Efforts to address the economic underpinnings of the Congo conflict have focused exclusively on sanctioning individual actors. Efforts to build government capacity have been piecemeal. There has been no coherent approach to alter the incentive structures that keep Congo's institutions weak and dysfunctional.

Without real political pressure from within or without that might actually change the status quo, ordinary Congolese remain trapped, their livelihoods dependent on an exploitative minerals trade that leaves the state sapped of resources and keeps armed groups entrenched.

Most damaging to Congo's economic prospects is that the artisanal mining sector, which could provide an engine for growth, is stigmatised.

Meanwhile, for the rest of the world, business continues as usual, with few questions asked.

Transparency is the first step toward altering the conflict economy in Congo. The ability of end users to trace, audit, and verify the supply chains for metal products in electronics products back to where they originated in eastern Congo is a critical step to channelling international demand away from armed groups and toward legitimate sources.

The consumer electronics industry has enormous expertise on corporate responsibility issues, but its focus has been on immediate suppliers, such as component manufacturers and assembly factories in Asia. With enough consumer pressure, the industry can take the right steps and put its own pressure on critical actors in the supply chain who continue to buy minerals from known war criminals.

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Developing institutions capable of securing mineral-rich regions of eastern Congo is perhaps the most vexing aspect of this challenge.

In the short-term, most important is what not to do. Any military action by the Congolese army or U.N. peacekeeping force against militia groups needs to be well thought out and planned, with international support for intelligence and logistics. In previous cases, little attention was paid to civilian protection, and innocent bystanders quickly faced brutal reprisals from militias.

Further, if Congo's army improved its own human rights record and practices, it would be in a much better position to take and hold territory, including key mines, and protect civilian populations. If the United Nations and Congo's army can meet these thresholds, the FDLR and other factions can be dislodged from key mines and hold these territories, enabling a modicum of security that is a prerequisite for legitimate economic activity.

Because Congo's mineral wealth continues to enrich illicit networks of political and military elites who subvert the resources need to build state authority, governance structures remain mired in a pernicious cycle of corruption and predation. To date, Congolese efforts to reform the mining sector and renegotiate contracts have failed.

But with Congo's economic crisis, comes an opportunity for reform. Donors should extract from the Congolese government not just commitments but demonstrable reforms related to the regulation of mining, commerce, and taxation.

Temporary internationalisation of revenue collection, modelled upon successful efforts in Liberia, should inform the development of an inclusive, Congolese process of reform.

INVESTMENT AND LIVELIHOODS

There is no denying that there are short-term economic consequences from the increased costs that will accompany these efforts to reform the mineral trade. But without such measures, the horrific logic of predation and corruption will continue.

A sizeable investment in alternative livelihoods, transitional support for affected miners, and investment in labour-intensive infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and electricity will mitigate these effects and pave the way toward viable long-term development.

Transparent supply chains, secure mining sites, functioning oversight, and decent livelihood options may seem implausible in eastern Congo. But several years ago, most observers would have scoffed at the notion that Liberia could achieve a measure of stability.

Just months ago, the notion that Congo and Rwanda might collaborate to address mutual security concerns sounded equally improbable.

Congo's continuing and seismic shifts are full of peril, but also offer an opportunity to finally address the conflict's economic drivers, provided local governments and international actors can cohere around a common approach.

Consumers and activists can lead the way. There is no way to know whether there are conflict minerals from Congo in the computer, blackberry, or phone that you are using right now. We need to use these devices to demand that this unacceptable situation change.

Visit the Raise Hope for Congo website to find out more about Enough's campaign to protect Congolese women and girls. Read more about Enough's work in general by visiting their website: http://www.enoughproject.org/

To read a slightly different take on these issues why not take a look at: VIEWPOINT: Why disrupting Congo's mineral trade won't solve the conflict

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