It is a conflict that continues and for which there does not seem to be a solution. The Democratic Republic of Congo is plagued by conflicts between armed groups. There are more than 120 in existence today. Conflicts are particularly virulent in the east of the country, near the border with Rwanda. The reasons for this crisis are multiple and complex, and it is the Congolese population who are paying the heaviest price.
A crisis that is still too invisible
To try to find solutions to these problems, the Congolese academic world thinks, analyzes, reflects, proposes. In September 2023, a conference bringing together many experts on the issue took place under the auspices of the Official University of Bukavu (UOB). It was set up by Dr Pierre Maurer, originally Bruntrutain now based in Kinshasa. From this conference a book was born, “Armed Groups and Development in DR Congo: Dynamics, Issues and Perspectives”. It compiles the interventions made during the conference, takes stock of the situation and suggests avenues for the future. The book focuses in particular on the various demobilization and reintegration programs which were put in place by the authorities, but which did not bear fruit. “Our idea was to take a snapshot of the situation by sector, to be able to compare and see if things are improving or deteriorating, but also to talk about a very serious crisis which affects millions of people and which we don’t talk about never,” explains Pierre Maurer.
This relative invisibility is explained in particular by the fact that within the DRC itself, the question of violence and armed groups is not at the center of the debate. “From a national point of view we already find little interest, this is what makes the conflict exist, but we don’t talk about it too much outside,” explains Marie-José Kumutima, program manager. at FES Congo (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung). Perhaps academics can succeed where politics has failed. »
The solution must first come from within the country
The DRC has been plagued by violence for decades. If the UN and the main NGOs active in the country are calling for stronger mobilization of the international community, it is from within the country that the solution must come, according to Marie-José Kumutima. “When we talk about these armed groups, they are Congolese. They are sometimes separated by a street or a field, but they fight. I believe that to find a solution to this conflict, they must learn to live together. A lasting solution will first come from within, because it’s within that it doesn’t work. »
Pierre Maurer’s work is part of this approach. It pursues the dual objective of raising awareness both in the DRC, but also abroad. A book in the form of an observation, but also a tool, as recalled by the author of the preface to the work Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2018, who calls for an approach centered on the community rather than the individual, while admitting that changing the situation in the DRC will require “a difficult and long-term effort. » /tna
