David Bosco

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo—Late last week, a delegation of the U.N. Security Council assembled at Goma's small airport, in the shadow of the Mount Nyiragongo volcano. The collection of ambassadors and senior diplomats had spent the day touring a refugee camp on the outskirts of town. For an hour, the group stumbled over the lava-strewn ground, peered into makeshift huts covered with plastic sheeting, and listened attentively to singing children. France's ambassador to the United Nations, Jean-Maurice Ripert, grabbed a bullhorn and made an impromptu speech promising to get the refugees home. Since the Rwandan genocide in 1994, Goma has been the vortex of regional conflict that has taken at least 1 million lives. As part of a 10-day, five-country tour of African crisis zones, the council wanted to see firsthand the work of the 18,000-man peacekeeping force it authorized in 1999. Sweaty and disheveled after the sightseeing, the delegation was ready for the two-hour flight back to Kinshasa, the capital.