Local civil society initiatives
for peacebuilding in North-East Congo
Gaynor, NiamhORCID: 0000-0001-5645-7032
(2023)
Local civil society initiatives
for peacebuilding in North-East Congo.
In: Biekart, KeesORCID: 0000-0002-6429-5974, Kontinen, TiinaORCID: 0000-0002-0302-6666 and Millstein, MarianneORCID: 0000-0003-1368-5080, (eds.)
Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces.
EADI Global Development Series
.
Palgrave Macmillan (Springer), London, pp. 257-272.
ISBN 978-3-031-23307-4
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the site of one of the most egregious conflicts in modern times. Ituri, a richly endowed province in the North-East, has endured some of the bloodiest fighting and gravest atrocities since conflict first erupted there in 1999. Drawing on fieldwork conducted with community groups, local civil society organisations (CSOs) and local political authorities in the province, in this chapter I explore the successes and limitations of local civil society peacebuilding efforts in the region. I argue that local actions need to be accompanied and supported by national and global actions which, acting in support to and in solidarity with local communities, challenge and address the globalised political economy of conflict. This means (re)politicising interventions and engaging with the global actors engaged in resource extraction, as well as working in greater cooperation with local actors in land reform, service provision and resource management.