A/HRC/13/63 page 10 25. Even outside areas affected by conflict, a large majority of Congolese still do not enjoy their most basic economic and social rights. The World Food Programme has warned that acute malnutrition is at dangerously high levels in some parts of the country, exacerbated by the food price crisis.7 These include areas not affected by conflict, such as Kasai, which benefit from fewer humanitarian interventions. The rights of everyone to the highest attainable standard of health and to education, including free primary education, suffer from the fact that the health and education sectors survive only on the basis of user fees and support from external donors. The Congolese State generates too little income of its own (notwithstanding the country’s wealth in natural resources) that actually flows into State coffers, rather than being illegally diverted, and not enough of this limited income is dedicated to the fulfilment of economic and social rights. B. Violence against women 26. Alarming levels of violence against women continue to be reported across the country, particularly in the east, as part of a broader pattern of violence and discrimination against women and girls. As reflected in the experts’ initial report, forms and manifestations of violence endured by women and girls in conflict and “peace” situations are manifold. While most instances of violence, in particular sexual violence, are committed by various armed actors, many cases are nevertheless reportedly perpetrated by civilians, both in zones affected by conflict and other parts of the country. In an increasingly militarized society, impunity, absence of the rule of law and women’s subordinate social and legal position reinforces a climate of general acceptance and tolerance for violence against women and girls. 27. In the context of the military operations against FDLR, brutal sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war by all local parties to the conflict. The United Nations Population Fund has recorded 7,500 cases of sexual violence against women and girls across North and South Kivu in the first nine months of 2009, nearly double the figures for the same period in 2008. An increase in cases of sexual violence is also reported by health counselling centres near conflict zones. FARDC continues to be the major perpetrator of sexual violence. In North Kivu, an assistance provider for victims of sexual violence recorded a total of 3,106 cases between January and July 2009; half of these cases were perpetrated by FARDC members.8 28. Attacks on the civilian population by armed actors are frequently accompanied by sexual atrocities. According to documentation and testimonies collected by the Group of Experts of the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee, a total of 1,199 human rights violations against the civilian population were committed by FDLR between February and October 2009 in reprisal for attacks perpetrated by FARDC during the Umoja Wetu and Kimia II operations, including 135 cases of sexual violence.9 On 27 April 2009, for instance, FARDC attacked a makeshift camp of Rwandan Hutu refugees in Shalio, North Kivu. Reports indicate that FARDC 7 See http://www.wfp.org/countries/congo-democratic-republic. 8 S/2009/603, para. 339. 9 S/2009/603, para. 347.