The Democratic Republic of Congo has endured conflict for more than a decade in what has been called the deadliest war since World War II. More than 5 million people have died and the country is also the site of the largest and most expensive peacekeeping mission in United Nations history.

In the last year alone, more than a million people have fled the fighting in eastern Congo. For more on the conflict, read our Q&A: History, rebels and crisis in eastern Congo.

Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge hosts a panel featuring a range of voices and perspectives on eastern Congo:

Séverine Autesserre is an assistant professor of political science at Barnard College, Columbia University. She researches civil wars, peace building and peace keeping, humanitarian aid and African politics. Her upcoming book is called Failing the Congo: International intervention and local violence. Before entering academia, Séverine worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo for humanitarian and development agencies.

Nancee Oku Bright currently heads up the United Nations’ Great Lakes team of the department of peacekeeping operations, which covers MONUC and Burundi. She served in MONUC and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as chief of the Africa section, as well as chief of the advocacy and public information. A Liberian, she is also the director of the documentary film “Liberia: America’s Stepchild,” which aired on PBS in 2002.

Michael J. Kavanagh is a journalist with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting who reports about post-conflict development across Africa. He has been reporting on Congo for five years and his work has been regularly featured on Worldfocus.

- See Michael’s reports: War in DR Congo: The story of Pascal and Vestine
Rape as a weapon of war in DR Congo
- See Michael’s Q&A: History, rebels and crisis in eastern Congo.
- See Michael’s blog post about covering Congo: Giving a human face to Congo’s conflict.

Click above to visit Worldfocus at BlogTalkRadio.

Anchor Martin Savidge hosted his first radio show on Tuesday on the Kashmiri people, history and human rights.

In case you didn’t know it, this past Tuesday marked another milestone for Worldfocus…our first time on the radio. It was BlogTalkRadio, another new tool of the Web. And it was wonderful.

One of the beauties of radio is, of course, you don’t see me. So after the televised version of Worldfocus that night, I went home and slipped into a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a comfy sweater.

I was casual, and that’s the idea of the radio show.

We chose Kashmir to talk about because it’s been in the news lately in connection to the terror attacks in Mumbai, India, and has received a lot of feedback from commenters on Worldfocus.org. It’s an area few Americans have been to, and even fewer understand. No wonder; it’s a very complex story. That’s why I was thrilled to have an entire half-hour to talk about one subject.

We had four guests on the line. It was radio, but we all spoke using the telephone: Two professors, a former Pakistani Ambassador and a young Kashmiri-American who is also in a rock band that plays music inspired by his homeland.

After the introductions, I think everyone got it that this wasn’t a formal interview. Rather, it was a talk amongst friends, as if we were all seated at a kitchen table after the plates have been cleared, with only cups of coffee before us. Everyone shared and everyone gained.

It was such a hit — not just with the speakers but with listeners as well — that we decided the next day to make it a regular thing.

So starting in January, we will select a subject each week and join a panel of  knowledgeable guests, slip into some comfy slippers and start a conversation about something in the world. We’ll tell you the topic and how to join the talk a couple of days before on the television version of Worldfocus. That way, you can call in or e-mail. You’ll have to provide your own coffee, I’m afraid.

So pull up a chair and join our giant kitchen conversation (courtesy of the Internet) at Worldfocus.org. We’ve got a lot to talk about.

Talk to you on the radio.

- Martin Savidge