How can we end conflict in Congo's east ?!

Despite the billions of dollars spent on bringing about peace in Democratic Republic of Congo, violence still wracks the country’s east, where conflicts have displaced hundreds of thousands of people this year alone. So what’s the solution?

London-based peacebuilding organisation International Alert (IA) believes the answer lies in tackling the causes of the conflicts, supporting local attempts at keeping the peace, and bringing people together across ethnic and political divides.

This may seem obvious, but IA says international efforts to build peace in a country recovering from years of war have misdiagnosed the reasons for the east’s tensions. These include lack of access to land, and political and economic marginalisation.

"Standard post-conflict interventions are simply not working; what is needed is a truly context-specific response based on a frank analysis of the real causes and dynamics behind this prolonged and multi-faceted conflict,” IA secretary general Dan Smith said in a statement.


In a report, Ending the Deadlock: Towards a new vision of peace in eastern DRC, published Thursday, IA cites peace initiatives such as disarmament programmes, the reintegration of displaced people and curbs on the region’s mineral trade.

Attempts to stop rebels funding their operations through Congo’s mineral trade have had some success, but armed groups have simply diversified their sources of financing as a result. The curb on minerals has also hurt civilians who depend on the trade for a living, the report says.

Although tens of thousands of former militants have been disarmed, many have not found alternative work partly because they did not receive enough support to reintegrate into civilian life, IA says.

In addition, programmes helping refugees return to Congo tend to be run using “individualistic and technical approaches”, and don’t take enough account of local tensions and conflicts which can worsen when people come home.