I want to talk to you today about a difficult topic that is close to me, and closer than you might realize to you.
Danas želim da vam pričam o teškoj temi koja mi je bliska, a vama je bliža nego što možda mislite.
I came to the UK 21 years ago, as an asylum-seeker. I was 21. I was forced to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo, my home, where I was a student activist. I would love my children to be able to meet my family in the Congo.
U Ujedinjeno kraljevstvo došao sam pre 21 godinu u potrazi za azilom. Imao sam 21 godinu. Bio sam primoran da napustim Demokratsku republiku Kongo, moj dom, gde sam bio student aktivista. Voleo bih da moja deca mogu da upoznaju moju porodicu u Kongu.
But I want to tell you what the Congo has got to do with you. But first of all, I want you to do me a favor. Can you all please reach into your pockets and take out your mobile phone? Feel that familiar weight ... how naturally your finger slides towards the buttons.
Želim da vam kažem koja je veza između vas i Konga. Ali pre svega, želim da mi učinite uslugu. Možete li svi da zavučete ruku u svoje džepove i izvadite svoj mobilni telefon? Osetite tu poznatu težinu, kako prirodno vaši prsti kreću prema dugmićima.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Can you imagine your world without it? It connects us to our loved ones, our family, friends and colleagues, at home and overseas. It is a symbol of an interconnected world.
Možete li da zamislite svoj svet bez njih? Oni nas povezuju sa našim bližnjima, porodicom, prijateljima i kolegama, kod kuće i preko okeana. To je simbol povezanog sveta.
But what you hold in your hand leaves a bloody trail, and it all boils down to a mineral: tantalum, mined in the Congo as coltan. It is an anticorrosive heat conductor. It stores energy in our mobile phones, PlayStations and laptops. It is used in aerospace and medical equipment as an alloy. It is so powerful that we only need tiny amounts. It would be great if the story ended there.
Ali ono što držite u ruci za sobom ima trag krvi, i sve se svodi na mineral: tantal, koji se u Kongu iskopava kao koltan. To je provodnik toplote koji ne rđa. On skladišti energiju u našim mobilnim telefonima, Plejstejšn konzolama i laptop računarima. Koristi se u svemirskoj i medicinskoj opremi kao legura. Toliko je moćan da su nam potrebne samo malene količine. Bilo bi sjajno kada bi se priča tu završavala.
Unfortunately, what you hold in your hand has not only enabled incredible technological development and industrial expansion, but it has also contributed to unimaginable human suffering.
Nažalost, ono što držite u rukama ne samo da je omogućilo neverovatan tehnološki razvoj i industrijsko proširenje, nego je takođe doprinelo nezamislivoj
Since 1996, over five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Countless women, men and children have been raped, tortured or enslaved. Rape is used as a weapon of war, instilling fear and depopulating whole areas. The quest for extracting this mineral has not only aided, but it has fueled the ongoing war in the Congo.
ljudskoj patnji. Od 1996. preko pet miliona ljudi je umrlo u Demokratskoj republici Kongo. Nebrojene žene, muškarci i deca su silovani, mučeni ili porobljeni. Silovanje se koristi kao oružje rata, da se usadi strah i isele čitava područja. Potraga za kopanjem ovog minerala ne samo da je pomogla, nego je i pojačala postojeći rat u Kongu.
But don't throw away your phones yet. Thirty thousand children are enlisted and are made to fight in armed groups. The Congo consistently scores dreadfully in global health and poverty rankings. But remarkably, the UN Environmental Programme has estimated the wealth of the country to be over 24 trillion dollars. The state-regulated mining industry has collapsed, and control over mines has splintered. Coltan is easily controlled by armed groups. One well-known illicit trade route is that across the border to Rwanda, where Congolese tantalum is disguised as Rwandan.
Ali nemojte još da bacite svoje telefone. 30 000 dece je mobilisano i naterano da se bore u naoružanim grupama. Kongo stalno ima katastrofalne rezultate na svetskim listama zdravlja i siromaštva. Ali neverovatno je da je program UN za zaštitu okoline procenio bogatstvo zemlje na preko 24 biliona dolara. Rudarska industrija kojom upravlja država je propala i kontrola nad rudnicima se raspodelila. Koltan lako kontrolišu naoružane grupe. Jedna od poznatih zabranjenih trgovačkih ruta je preko granice do Ruande gde se tantal iz Konga prerušava u onaj iz Ruande.
But don't throw away your phones yet, because the incredible irony is that the technology that has placed such unsustainable, devastating demands on the Congo is the same technology that has brought this situation to our attention. We only know so much about the situation in the Congo and in the mines because of the kind of communication the mobile phone allows. As with the Arab Spring, during the recent elections in the Congo, voters were able to send text messages of local polling stations to the headquarters in the capital, Kinshasa. And in the wake of the result, the diaspora has joined with the Carter Center, the Catholic Church and other observers, to draw attention to the undemocratic result.
Ali nemojte još da bacite svoje telefone jer je neverovatna ironija u tome da tehnologija koja je stavila tako neodržive i razorne zahteve prema Kongu ista ta tehnologija koja nam je predočila ovu situaciju. Toliko toga znamo o situaciji u Kongu i unutar rudnika samo zbog vrste komunikacije koju dozvoljavaju mobilni telefoni. Kao i sa Arapskim prolećem, tokom skorašnjih izbora u Kongu glasači su mogli da šalju SMS poruke od lokalnih glasačkih mesta do sedišta u glavnom gradu Kinšasi i nakon rezultata, dijaspora se udružila sa Centrom Karter, katoličkom crkvom i drugim posmatračima kako bi privukli pažnju na nedemokratski rezultat.
The mobile phone has given people around the world an important tool towards gaining their political freedom. It has truly revolutionized the way we communicate on the planet. It has allowed momentous political change to take place. So, we are faced with a paradox. The mobile phone is an instrument of freedom and an instrument of oppression.
Mobilni telefon je ljudima širom sveta dao važan alat za dobijanje njihove političke slobode. Zaista je uveo revoluciju u način na koji komuniciramo na planeti. Dozvolio je da se desi ogromna politička promena. Dakle, suočeni smo s paradoksom. Mobilni telefon je uređaj slobode i uređaj represije.
TED has always celebrated what technology can do for us, technology in its finished form. It is time to be asking questions about technology. Where does it come from? Who makes it? And for what? Here, I am speaking directly to you, the TED community, and to all those who might be watching on a screen, on your phone, across the world, in the Congo. All the technology is in place for us to communicate, and all the technology is in place to communicate this.
TED je uvek slavio ono što tehnologija može da uradi za nas, tehnologija u svom završenom obliku. Vreme je da postavimo pitanja o tehnologiji. Odakle ona dolazi? Ko je stvara? I za šta? Ovde vam direktno pričam, TED zajednici, i svima onima koji možda gledaju ovo preko ekrana, na svom telefonu, širom sveta, u Kongu. Sva tehnologija je tu da bismo mi komunicirali, i sva tehnologija je tu da bismo preneli ovo.
At the moment, there is no clear fair-trade solution. But there has been a huge amount of progress. The US has recently passed legislation to target bribery and misconduct in the Congo. Recent UK legislation could be used in the same way. In February, Nokia unveiled its new policy on sourcing minerals in the Congo, and there is a petition to Apple to make a conflict-free iPhone. There are campaigns spreading across university campuses to make their colleges conflict-free. But we're not there yet. We need to continue mounting pressure on phone companies to change their sourcing processes.
Ovog trenutka ne postoji jasno rešenje za pravednu trgovinu ali desio se ogroman napredak. SAD su nedavno usvojile zakon koji se odnosi na korupciju i kršenje zakona u Kongu. Skorašnji zakoni Ujedinjenog kraljevstva mogu se koristiti na isti način. Nokia je u februaru otkrila svoju novu politiku koja se tiče dobavljanja minerala iz Konga, i postoji peticija za Epl da napravi ajfon bez konflikta. Postoje kampanje koje se šire kroz kampuse univerziteta, da bi njihovi fakulteti postali bez konflikta. Ali još uvek nismo tu. Moramo da nastavimo s pritiskom na telefonske kompanije
When I first came to the UK, 21 years ago, I was homesick. I missed my family and the friends I left behind. Communication was extremely difficult. Sending and receiving letters took months -- if you were lucky. Often, they never arrived. Even if I could have afforded the phone bills home, like most people in the Congo, my parents did not own a phone line.
kako bi one promenile svoje procese snabdevanja. Kada sam prvi put došao u Ujedinjeno kraljevstvo pre 21 godinu, bio sam nostalgičan. Nedostajali su mi porodica i prijatelji koje sam ostavio. Komunikacija je bila izuzetno teška. Slanje i primanje pisama trajali su mesecima, ako ste imali sreće. Često uopšte nisu stizala. Čak i da sam mogao da priuštim telefonske razgovore do kuće, poput većine ljudi u Kongu, moji roditelji nisu imali telefonsku vezu.
Today, my two sons -- David and Daniel, can talk to my parents and get to know them. Why should we allow such a wonderful, brilliant and necessary product to be the cause of unnecessary suffering for human beings?
Danas, moja dva sina Dejvid i Danijel mogu da pričaju sa mojim roditeljima i da ih upoznaju. Zašto bismo dozvolili da takav divan, briljantan i neophodan proizvod bude uzrok nepotrebne patnje za ljudska bića?
We demand fair-trade food and fair-trade clothes. It is time to demand fair-trade phones. This is an idea worth spreading.
Zahtevamo hranu kroz pravednu trgovinu i odeću kroz pravednu trgovinu. Vreme je da zahtevamo telefone dobijene kroz pravednu trgovinu. Ovo je ideja vredna širenja. Hvala vam.
Thank you.
(Aplauz)
(Applause)