UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and United Kingdom Foreign Secretary William Hague visit Nzolo camp, near Goma, March 2013.  

“The violence of 2007 and 2008 was the worst,” says peace activist Simon Muchiri, 50, remembering the disputed presidential elections that tore Kenyan communities apart. He says he believes peace building over the past five years has encouraged co-existence, and he is hopeful local people will have more voice in government. 

“I want to see people vote wisely and peacefully,” says Simon Muchiri, a farmer born and raised in Tarakwa, a small town in Kenya's Rift Valley once known as Burnt Forest. 

Rhoda Mukamba (second from left) lost her husband and her home when mobs attacked her Kenyan village in January 2008 after a disputed presidential election.

Most of the refugees from Darfur were animal herders and arrived in Bahai with their livestock. But many animals died from hunger, thirst and exhaustion.

In conflict-stricken North Kivu province, the IRC is delivering more than 12,000 emergency kits for women that support their dignity and safety.