The role of security sector reform in post-conflict recovery: the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Authors: Nibishaka, Emmanuel
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Security sector -- Congo (Democratic Republic) , Postwar reconstruction -- Congo (Democratic Republic) , Peace-building -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7753 , vital:23824
- Description: From 1990s, Security Sector Reform (SSR) has become a key component in international interventions in many countries in the aftermath of conflict. Currently, 17 UN peacekeeping missions are deployed with an SSR mandate, making SSR, an integral part of peacekeeping. Additionally, the growing consensus amongst donors and the United Nations regarding the necessity of implementing SSR for effective stabilisation and reconstruction in the aftermath of conflict made it evident that SSR has gained traction in peacebuilding and post-conflict activities as a major transformative measure needed in post-conflict recovery to achieve more sustainable, peaceful relationships and structures of governance in order to avoid a relapse into conflict. However, despite that recognition, deeper understanding of its actual implementation and empirical results of the existing programmes have yet to be fully documented. Many SSR implementation experiences in various post-conflict states have been mainly disappointing and yet there are not enough studies identifying structural and operational challenges faced by SSR actors (both local and external). Using the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where several SSR donor supported initiatives have been ongoing since 2003, this study investigated the effectiveness and sustainability of Security Sector Reform (SSR) in post-conflict recovery processes, as one of the key mechanisms to avoid relapse into conflict. In this study, diverse arguments and actual implementation practices of SSR interventions in the DRC were assessed against guidelines and principles in existing policy documents, and opinions in secondary sources. It emerged that the SSR processes in DRC had registered little success and faced systemic deficiencies needing remediation to truly contribute to DRC’s post-conflict recovery. Such deficiencies include: SSR programmes being implemented in an environment of chronic instability; incoherence and inconsistencies in external actors’ policies and practices; lack of political will both by the GoRDC and external actors; competition and rivalry amongst donors and external actors; and selectivity and lack of a holistic approach to peacebuilding. These shortfalls undermined efforts in building local ownership; and jeopardises the entire SSR process by negatively influencing prioritisation, accountability, and proper follow-up to ensure that the agreed plans and programmes have been implemented. The study concludes that current SSR programmes in the DRC are ill-suited and ill-designed to create a truly effective, accountable and sustainable security sector in as much as actors (both local and external) have mostly disregarded basic SSR underpinning principles that would have ensured the success of their programmes. They also paid little attention to other aspects of post-conflict peacebuilding such as broader governance reform, institutional and capacity building, impact of mineral resources, poverty reduction and the proliferation of armed groups when articulating SSR policies all of which could have laid the foundations for SSR to properly launch. The study recommends that current SSR donor practices are revisited to formulate an acceptable and achievable SSR strategy consistent with the reality on the ground. In this regard, the study argues that SSR should be viewed as an essential, but currently, insufficient condition to achieve lasting peace and security. It needs to be part of a broader democratisation and reform process in any post-conflict setting. Specifically, in DRC, the study recommends that in the absence of political will, international partners should leverage their direct financial contributions to persuade or even pressurise the Government into initiating structural reforms in all sectors that would ensure sustainable entry points for SSR. The study strongly recommends an overhaul of all DRC governance institutions to broadly align with post-conflict reforms, as no institutional foundations currently exist. The study also noted a lack of proper staffing within the UN SSR system and recommends the best way to respond to this particular challenge, including the appreciation and recruitment of experts from the Global South who are familiar with the realities on the ground.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Nibishaka, Emmanuel
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Security sector -- Congo (Democratic Republic) , Postwar reconstruction -- Congo (Democratic Republic) , Peace-building -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7753 , vital:23824
- Description: From 1990s, Security Sector Reform (SSR) has become a key component in international interventions in many countries in the aftermath of conflict. Currently, 17 UN peacekeeping missions are deployed with an SSR mandate, making SSR, an integral part of peacekeeping. Additionally, the growing consensus amongst donors and the United Nations regarding the necessity of implementing SSR for effective stabilisation and reconstruction in the aftermath of conflict made it evident that SSR has gained traction in peacebuilding and post-conflict activities as a major transformative measure needed in post-conflict recovery to achieve more sustainable, peaceful relationships and structures of governance in order to avoid a relapse into conflict. However, despite that recognition, deeper understanding of its actual implementation and empirical results of the existing programmes have yet to be fully documented. Many SSR implementation experiences in various post-conflict states have been mainly disappointing and yet there are not enough studies identifying structural and operational challenges faced by SSR actors (both local and external). Using the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where several SSR donor supported initiatives have been ongoing since 2003, this study investigated the effectiveness and sustainability of Security Sector Reform (SSR) in post-conflict recovery processes, as one of the key mechanisms to avoid relapse into conflict. In this study, diverse arguments and actual implementation practices of SSR interventions in the DRC were assessed against guidelines and principles in existing policy documents, and opinions in secondary sources. It emerged that the SSR processes in DRC had registered little success and faced systemic deficiencies needing remediation to truly contribute to DRC’s post-conflict recovery. Such deficiencies include: SSR programmes being implemented in an environment of chronic instability; incoherence and inconsistencies in external actors’ policies and practices; lack of political will both by the GoRDC and external actors; competition and rivalry amongst donors and external actors; and selectivity and lack of a holistic approach to peacebuilding. These shortfalls undermined efforts in building local ownership; and jeopardises the entire SSR process by negatively influencing prioritisation, accountability, and proper follow-up to ensure that the agreed plans and programmes have been implemented. The study concludes that current SSR programmes in the DRC are ill-suited and ill-designed to create a truly effective, accountable and sustainable security sector in as much as actors (both local and external) have mostly disregarded basic SSR underpinning principles that would have ensured the success of their programmes. They also paid little attention to other aspects of post-conflict peacebuilding such as broader governance reform, institutional and capacity building, impact of mineral resources, poverty reduction and the proliferation of armed groups when articulating SSR policies all of which could have laid the foundations for SSR to properly launch. The study recommends that current SSR donor practices are revisited to formulate an acceptable and achievable SSR strategy consistent with the reality on the ground. In this regard, the study argues that SSR should be viewed as an essential, but currently, insufficient condition to achieve lasting peace and security. It needs to be part of a broader democratisation and reform process in any post-conflict setting. Specifically, in DRC, the study recommends that in the absence of political will, international partners should leverage their direct financial contributions to persuade or even pressurise the Government into initiating structural reforms in all sectors that would ensure sustainable entry points for SSR. The study strongly recommends an overhaul of all DRC governance institutions to broadly align with post-conflict reforms, as no institutional foundations currently exist. The study also noted a lack of proper staffing within the UN SSR system and recommends the best way to respond to this particular challenge, including the appreciation and recruitment of experts from the Global South who are familiar with the realities on the ground.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Expropriation of mineral resourses and the implications for conflict transformation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Authors: Nibishaka, Emmanuel
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Postwar reconstruction -- Congo (Democratic Republic) , Minerals -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018880
- Description: The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced constant instability and conflict since 1996. With the collapse of the state of Zaire and the renaming of the country by the late Laurent Desire Kabila in late 1996, there were high expectations from the Congolese population that the country was going to move forward. However, in less than two years, the central government in Kinshasa was facing a new rebellion from the east of the country, followed by widespread violence and criminal activities by armed and militia groups. Although military intervention from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola halted the rebellion march to Kinshasa, the capital city of DRC, and allowed the DRC government to sign peace agreement with its opponents in 2002; since then, the prospect of peace in the eastern DRC, especially the North and South Kivus seems bleak. Since 2002, that region has been the theatre of armed and militia groups (both local and foreign), owing to, in the views of various experts, the presence of mineral resources to support their criminal activities, as well as the economic interests of regional actors to create proxy militia and armed groups in the absence of central government in much of eastern DRC. The purpose and rationale of this study is to critically identify actors in the postconflict reconstruction process, and examine the role of mineral resources among other perpetuating factors of the protracted conflict in eastern DRC, in order to arrive at a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the failure of peace building and post-conflict reconstruction processes that have been undertaken. This study aims to fill a gap in available literature, by pointing to some conflict drivers and factors which have previously been overlooked in post-conflict reconstruction, and in existing research on the topic, especially the role of mineral resources in sustaining conflict. A thorough conceptualization of relevant conflict theory and a historical overview of the conflict in DRC were provided as a point of departure in order to understand other factors that contribute to the intractability of conflict in eastern DRC, this study found that those factors were rooted in the legacy of colonialism; the bad leadership under both the colonial powers and subsequent government of Joseph Mobutu, manipulation and politicization of ethnic identities especially in the South and North Kivu and the geopolitical location of the eastern DRC. This study further established that the presence of mineral resources in eastern DRC indeed contributes to the continued insecurity in that region by providing succour to armed groups, thus undermining peace agreements especially the Pretoria agreement that formally ended hostilities in 2002. Furthermore, the study found that the issue of mineral resources is not the sole driver of the eastern DRC conflict, as the issues of ethnic polarisation especially, discrimination against Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese in the east, and the view that only military means can solve this problem; coupled with other security threats including the presence of foreign militia groups motivate the neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to constantly meddle in DRC's internal affairs. The study suggests that additional research be conducted to further investigate the regional dimensions of the conflict and how perceived interests in mineral revenue contribute to the polarisation of the population in eastern DRC; leading to the proliferation of armed groups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Nibishaka, Emmanuel
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Postwar reconstruction -- Congo (Democratic Republic) , Minerals -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018880
- Description: The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced constant instability and conflict since 1996. With the collapse of the state of Zaire and the renaming of the country by the late Laurent Desire Kabila in late 1996, there were high expectations from the Congolese population that the country was going to move forward. However, in less than two years, the central government in Kinshasa was facing a new rebellion from the east of the country, followed by widespread violence and criminal activities by armed and militia groups. Although military intervention from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola halted the rebellion march to Kinshasa, the capital city of DRC, and allowed the DRC government to sign peace agreement with its opponents in 2002; since then, the prospect of peace in the eastern DRC, especially the North and South Kivus seems bleak. Since 2002, that region has been the theatre of armed and militia groups (both local and foreign), owing to, in the views of various experts, the presence of mineral resources to support their criminal activities, as well as the economic interests of regional actors to create proxy militia and armed groups in the absence of central government in much of eastern DRC. The purpose and rationale of this study is to critically identify actors in the postconflict reconstruction process, and examine the role of mineral resources among other perpetuating factors of the protracted conflict in eastern DRC, in order to arrive at a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for the failure of peace building and post-conflict reconstruction processes that have been undertaken. This study aims to fill a gap in available literature, by pointing to some conflict drivers and factors which have previously been overlooked in post-conflict reconstruction, and in existing research on the topic, especially the role of mineral resources in sustaining conflict. A thorough conceptualization of relevant conflict theory and a historical overview of the conflict in DRC were provided as a point of departure in order to understand other factors that contribute to the intractability of conflict in eastern DRC, this study found that those factors were rooted in the legacy of colonialism; the bad leadership under both the colonial powers and subsequent government of Joseph Mobutu, manipulation and politicization of ethnic identities especially in the South and North Kivu and the geopolitical location of the eastern DRC. This study further established that the presence of mineral resources in eastern DRC indeed contributes to the continued insecurity in that region by providing succour to armed groups, thus undermining peace agreements especially the Pretoria agreement that formally ended hostilities in 2002. Furthermore, the study found that the issue of mineral resources is not the sole driver of the eastern DRC conflict, as the issues of ethnic polarisation especially, discrimination against Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese in the east, and the view that only military means can solve this problem; coupled with other security threats including the presence of foreign militia groups motivate the neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi to constantly meddle in DRC's internal affairs. The study suggests that additional research be conducted to further investigate the regional dimensions of the conflict and how perceived interests in mineral revenue contribute to the polarisation of the population in eastern DRC; leading to the proliferation of armed groups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
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