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Democratic Republic of the Congo

Context

After two years of uncertainty, the Democratic Republic of the Congo finally organized elections in December 2018 that were won by opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi. Despite irregularities in the election process, Tshisekedi’s inauguration in January 2019 marked the first peaceful transfer of power in the DRC’s history and gives some hope for change and national reconciliation. Meanwhile, the elections overshadowed the second biggest Ebola outbreak in recorded human history, centered in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. Beginning in August 2018, the outbreak has caused an estimated 1756 deaths as of July 2019, according to WHO.

Interpeace’s work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been incremental since 2013, when the organization launched a cross border dialogue programme to help rebuild trust and deconstruct identity-based stereotypes among frontier communities in the eastern DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.

Since then, the Interpeace program in the DRC has expanded into the different provinces of Kasai and Central Kasai, North Kivu, Ituri, South Kivu and Mai-ndombe.

Goal


Our strategy in the DRC is to harness research, dialogue and collective action to help build trust between communities in conflict, as well as between communities, the authorities, the private sector and the international community. We aim to strengthen the capacities of key actors in effective prevention, management and transformation of conflicts to enable them to promote sustainable peace.

 

Initiatives

Inclusive Governance for Peace

To strengthen governance for peace in Kasai and Kasai Central, Interpeace and its partners APC and TDH are implementing a project to strengthen dialogues between stakeholders. The dialogue and advocacy actions target local leaders, traditional chiefs, traditional and local authorities, provincial authorities, and national authorities. In a context where violent conflicts arose around the managemen...
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Peace Incubator in Kasai

In order to strengthen the leadership of women and girls in Kasaï Central, Interpeace has launched, in the framework of a consortium with UN-WOMEN, a project to reinforce the institutional and traditional peace mechanisms existing in the two provinces. Funded for a period of two years, this project aims to ensure that "women and girls actively participate in peacebuilding and in strengthening soc...
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Support to mediation in Ituri and North Kivu

The province of Ituri and the Grand Nord Kivu area present an almost identical mosaic of conflicts and the dynamics of conflicts in the two areas are not only similar, but also reinforce each other. Interpeace is implementing in these two areas the project "Support to mediation for resilience and peace in Ituri and Great North Kivu (Beni city and Beni-Territory)" a project that aims to contribute ...
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Past initiatives

Together for Beni

In July 2018, Interpeace entered a consortium named Ensemble pour Beni (“Together for Beni”) with four other organizations, to work together in the Beni Territory of North Kivu province. Beni has experienced deadly violent conflicts perpetrated by different local and foreigner armed groups. Beni is also one of the epicenters of the 2018 Ebola outbreak in the DRC, and the intermittent violence ...
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Strengthening trust between the population and Ebola response team

In the Beni and Butembo Territories of North Kivu, Interpeace launched a project to help restore trust between Ebola response workers and members of the community. Beni and Butembo have borne the brunt of the DRC’s ongoing Ebola epidemic, and response teams coordinated by the national authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) have experienced mistrust from the local communities, underm...
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Restoring trust in the Kasai region

In the Kasai region, Interpeace has launched a programme to help restore trust between the national authorities and customary power. The conflict in Kasai is a contention between customary power and the authorities. This makes it considerably different from other conflicts in the DRC, many of which gravitate around the confluence of power, identity and resources. The Kasai programme was initiated ...
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Improving community safety by promoting dialogue and collaboration

Interpeace's programme in Ituri Province seeks to improve community safety by promoting dialogue and collaboration between citizens and the authorities. The programme established Permanent Dialogue Groups (GDPs), key spaces in which all stakeholders are able to discuss and co-design solutions to conflicts. In Nyankunde, Irumu territory, the efforts of the local GDP and the authorities significantl...
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Country Representative

For more information about the DRC country-programme, please contact the country representative.

Resources

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Media professionals in Kasai establish a committee for promotion of peace in DRC

News

16 February 2023

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Students in the DRC meet with officials and community leaders to discuss ways to solve the crisis in Ituri

News

9 February 2023

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Promoting an inclusive mediation process to strengthen resilience and peace in Ituri and North Kivu

News

24 November 2022

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Projet de dialogue, médiation et réconciliation entre les communautés, les autorités et les forces de sécurité

video

4 June 2021

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Discussion paper for peace education in the Great Lakes Region

Publication

14 February 2017

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Dialogue transfrontalier pour la paix dans la région des Grands Lacs

Publication

31 March 2015

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Terre, identité, pouvoir et mouvements de population dans la région des Grands Lacs – Forum des parties prenantes régionales

Publication

8 February 2016

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Forum Régional de Kinshasa

video

13 January 2016

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La paix par le dialogue et l’education – credo commun à 7 organisations dans la région des Grands Lacs

Publication

12 January 2016