Ben Affleck Launches 'Gimme Shelter' With UNHRC

by Jen Nedeau · 2008-12-23 17:07:00 UTC
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Here's a noble use of celebrity status to bring attention to a global dilemma.

This past week, Ben Affleck launched a campaign called ‘Gimme Shelter', which is a humanitarian cause to help victims of the fighting in the Eastern Congo - many of which are women who have been exposed to brutal violence and rape.

Women for Women International reports that the use of rape as a weapon of war in the Congo has reached epidemic proportions.

Additionally, the constant violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is forcing more than 250,000 people, many of them already displaced, to flee their homes and leave behind their belongings, their family, their friends and their hope.

The UN Refugee Agency is working with Affleck to raise awareness about the struggle in Congo, which has received far less attention than other African conflicts, but is a situation that needs our help and our attention more than ever.

You can watch the video below to learn more, or join the Gimme Shelter campaign on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr or your blog.

Jen Nedeau Jen Nedeau is a media relations professional and a writer based in New York City.
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