Conflict minerals and the people of the DRC - in pictures

In the DRC, people die every day over fighting to control the lucrative minerals trade. In the district of Szibira, South Kivu, around 50 people struggle to earn a living by mining cassiterite and coltan. Pictured in a tunnel is Alain Libondo, 17, left, and Nsinku Zihindula, 25, who work 24-hour shifts hammering at solid rock to find cassiterite ore at Szibira. Photograph: Tom Stoddart/Getty Images Photograph: Tom Stoddart/Getty Images

A child soldier who ran away from an armed militia, said: “We had our orders. I had a machine gun, and I went to take gold [by raiding a mine]. Then the commanders would take all the gold, and other commanders would bring weapons in the night for the gold. Gold is the power for the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda). It’s the thing they are looking for the most.” Photograph: Sasha Lezhnev/Enough Project Photograph: Sasha Lezhnev/Enough Project

Robert, 11, is a full-time gold miner working in South Kivu. “I’m an orphan," he said. "I want to go to school, but I have no choice now. I have to dig for gold." Photograph: Sasha Lezhnev/Enough Project Photograph: Sasha Lezhnev/Enough Project

A trader weighs gold nuggets at an illegal mine pit in Walungu territory in the South Kivu province near Bukavu, DRC. Photograph: Stringer/REUTERS Photograph: Stringer/REUTERS

M23 rebels stand guard outside the Goma football stadium as the M23 rebel spokesperson, Lt Col Vianney Kazarama, gives a speech to a crowd of thousands in Goma, Congo DRC, 21 November 2012. Kazarama declared Goma to be under the control of M23, urging civil servants to return to work. Photograph: Tim Freccia/EPA Photograph: Tim Freccia/EPA

M23 rebels celebrate in the streets of Goma in the east of the DRC on November 20, 2012. Rebels in the DRC claimed control of the main town of Goma and its airport, in the mineral-rich east, as President Joseph Kabila urged people to defend the country's sovereignty. Photograph: Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images

A woman and her children seek refuge at a camp for internally displaced people in Kibati, in the Nyiragongo territory, on the outskirts of Goma, DRC. Photograph: Marie Cacace/Oxfam Photograph: Marie Cacace/Oxfam/Marie Cacace/Oxfam

A Congolese girl carries firewood, in Bunagana town, DRC. Photograph: James Akena/REUTERS Photograph: James Akena/REUTERS

A displaced child smiles at the camera during a distribution of tarps in Mubimbi, South Kivu, last year. The capture of Goma during the fighting between the M23 forces and the Congolese National Army (FARDC) in November 2012 displaced more than 140,000 people, according to the United Nations. Photograph: Jana Asenbrennerova/REUTERS Photograph: Jana Asenbrennerova/REUTERS