A recently merged social justice group at two Garden City schools is holding a human rights conference to speak to an issue it says has gone ignored for too long.

The social justice group of Garden City Collegiate and Seven Oaks Met School is hosting a human rights conference on March 13 entitled No More Blood On Our Phones: Crisis in the Congo (and our role as Canadians).

The conference, which will run from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will speak to the heavy toll taken on citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of the drive for resources used in mobile phones and other electronic devices.

"The continuous silence of this conflict in the media is leaving 20 students and three teachers of Garden City Collegiate and the Met School incensed," reads a release issued by the group.

The students hope the conference will inspire the public to demand greater action in tracing the source of minerals taken from conflict zones, according to the release. During the conference, speakers from the Congo will tell their personal stories. Development workers will appear to speak to the involvement of Canadian mining operations in "exacerbating the conflict," states the release.

The conference is one of several activities the group is working on for the remainder of the school year.

For more information contact Nancy Janelle at nancy.janelle@7oaks.org or 204-336-5050.