clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk 
Hundreds of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken part in a protest in the eastern city of Goma to demand peace and protection for the region.
One of the women said the plight of their children - many of whom are sick, starving, lost or dead - led them to gather together "to cry and to ask for peace, just that".
The women say they are being raped by rebel fighters, as well as army and police forces.
In addition to violence, women are dealing with food shortages and sickness. Around 1,000 cases of cholera have been reported since October, the World Health Organisation warned.
That is 5.4 million deaths over and above the "normal" mortality figure that would be expected in a poor African nation.
I recently spent 10 days in DR Congo and every single woman I interviewed had lost at least one baby in childbirth. Most had had more than one die.
