Dimensions régionales des conflits dans les Grands Lacs

This workshop report, compiled by Nyambura Githaiga for the Institute for Security Studies, analyzes the regional dimensions of conflict in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. It examines the interconnectedness of political instability, human rights violations, and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), alongside the role of natural resources in financing armed groups. The document evaluates the effectiveness of regional bodies such as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the East African Community (EAC) in promoting sustainable peace and managing forced displacement.

• The proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW) exacerbates the violence and duration of conflicts. While these weapons have legitimate uses, their illicit trade and misuse are driven by root causes such as poverty, youth unemployment, and political alienation.
• Armed groups in the region are categorized as rebels (political/ideological goals) or militias (territorial/economic goals). Key regional groups operating outside their home countries include the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
• Natural resources, particularly non-renewable minerals like gold, diamonds, cassiterite, coltan, and wolframite, fuel conflicts both directly (inter-state disputes over shared resources) and indirectly (illegal exploitation to finance armed groups).
• Protracted Refugee Situations (PRS) are identified as a critical risk factor for regional instability. The situation in Tanzania is cited as a primary example, with refugees from Burundi and the DRC experiencing an average exile duration of 22.5 years as of December 2006.
• Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is rampant in the region, often used by armed gangs for ritual reasons, revenge, or ethnic cleansing. There is a noted lack of strategic interventions focused on prevention, with most efforts limited to fighting impunity and aiding victims.
• The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) utilizes a holistic architecture involving technical experts, national coordinators, and a Regional Interministerial Committee to address security, democracy, and development.
• The ICGLR's human rights dimension includes the establishment of a Regional Center for the Promotion of Democracy, Good Governance, Human Rights and Civic Education in Lusaka, which will house a Regional Observatory on Human Rights to support an early warning system.
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the epicenter of the resource-conflict nexus, where state weakness in the East allows armed groups to tax and exploit minerals. Efforts to curb this include the Regional Initiative against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources (RINR).
• The 1994 Rwandan genocide and subsequent exodus of 2.5 million people to neighboring countries (Burundi, Zaire, Tanzania, Uganda) demonstrated how internal displacement can regionalize a conflict through the militarization of refugee camps.

APA

Githaiga, N. (2011). Dimensions régionales des conflits dans les Grands Lacs. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2012AugDimensionsConflictGreatLakes.pdf

Chicago

Githaiga, Nyambura. Dimensions régionales des conflits dans les Grands Lacs. Institute for Security Studies, 2011. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2012AugDimensionsConflictGreatLakes.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Githaiga |first1=Nyambura |title=Dimensions régionales des conflits dans les Grands Lacs |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2011 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2012AugDimensionsConflictGreatLakes.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{githaiga2011dimensions, author = {Githaiga, Nyambura}, title = {{Dimensions régionales des conflits dans les Grands Lacs}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2011}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2012AugDimensionsConflictGreatLakes.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }