Amani Labda - Peace Maybe Joint Evaluation of Conflict - Channel ...

JOINT EVALUATION OF CONFLICT PREVENTION AND PEACE BUILDING IN DRCVOLUME 11. Humanitarian aid and the fight against sexual and gender-based violence(SGBV)2. Justice3. Security sector reform and demobilisation4. Mineral exploitation5. Capacity buildingIt should be noted that the evaluation covers project performance in the abovesectors in terms of conflict prevention and peacebuilding. It does not seek toverify the interventions’ results as they relate to their original technical objectives(which may refer very little to peace).The evaluation highlights the timing and the way in which interventionsinteracted with the factors of peace and conflict, as we explain in section 1.3. Itseeks to evaluate their performance and the coordination of policies that definedthem.AnalysisoftheConflictThe recent wars of Congo constitute one of the world’s most severe crises 2 . Theydrew rebel groups against each other and against armed forces of the DRC, themajority fighting for recognition and access to resources, others for forms ofpolitical autonomy. Under a United Nations mandate, an importantpeacekeeping force was deployed in the country. However, in spite of differentpeace agreements, violent conflicts continue to agitate the eastern provinces, evenat the time of writing.In the East of the country, the situation is marked by weak state structures, andthe rural characteristic of armed groups, that operate in isolated regions, indifficult to access terrain. In order to constitute or reinforce themselves, orsurvive, these groups mobilise primarily along ethnic lines, and abandonthemselves to predatory practices. However, they are often ignored.From these general remarks, after having identified the intervention themes inrelation to conflict resolution and peacebuilding, the evaluation sought to identifythe conflict drivers, as the many points of influence in the region, as towards thedirection of conflict resolution or as an aggravation to the crisis:State weakness in rural areas, in particular the absence of services,erratic payment of salaries, and poor infrastructure.Frequent land conflicts, related to conflict between customary andmodern law, the numerous population movements linked to thewar, and the exploitation of natural resources (mainly forests andminerals).2 Some observers claim that up to 5.5 million people have died since August 1998 as a consequence of conflictand more than 2 million have been displaced.