From Protection to Empowerment: Civilians as Stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The document examines the marginalisation of civilians, particularly women, children, and displaced persons, in the peace processes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It critiques the UN's 'mainstreaming' approach as often limited to humanitarian protection rather than political empowerment. The author argues that sustainable peace requires the inclusion of non-combatants in decision-making, addressing the root causes of conflict such as the illegal exploitation of natural resources and systemic gender-based violence, and moving beyond power-sharing agreements between belligerents.

• Civilians in the DRC are frequently excluded from formal peace processes, which tend to focus on placating belligerents who hold leverage through violence. While the UN employs 'mainstreaming' to factor in the concerns of women and children, this often remains a humanitarian effort rather than a political process for stakeholder representation.
• The conflict in the DRC has resulted in extreme civilian casualties, with the International Rescue Committee estimating 3.3 million deaths, making it the deadliest war documented in Africa and the highest war death toll globally in the last half-century. These deaths are primarily attributed to lack of food, medicine, water, and shelter.
• Sexual violence against women and girls is used systematically as a 'weapon of war' by all armed groups to terrorise communities, punish suspected supporters of enemies, and shatter kinship ties. This is exacerbated by a total lack of judicial, penal, and medical infrastructure to end impunity or treat victims.
• Children and youth are highly vulnerable to militarisation due to a lack of education and economic opportunities, creating a 'bottomless recruitment pool' for both government and non-state actors. Despite international protocols, all warring parties in the DRC have been listed by the UN for violating obligations regarding child soldiers.
• Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are often used as vectors of further instability. While the UNHCR facilitates repatriation, it lacks the capacity to provide physical security, leaving refugees vulnerable to attacks by armed groups for the purpose of kidnapping women and recruiting children.
• The Inter-Congolese Dialogue (ICD) failed to achieve representative gender balance; despite women making up over 52% of the population, only 7% of representatives in Government, Parliament, and the Senate are women. The process also left critical root causes unaddressed, specifically citizenship issues in the east and commercial contracts granted during the war.
• The illegal exploitation of natural resources, such as coltan, is directly linked to humanitarian disasters and the funding of conflict. In the Eastern DRC, the boom in tantalum prices led rebels and business interests to forcibly displace farmers and use artisanal miners in conditions of slavery.

APA

Kent, V., & McIntyre, A. (2004). From Protection to Empowerment: Civilians as Stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/topics/corruption-and-governance/01-feb-2004-from-protection-to-empowerment-civilians-as-stakeholders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo

Chicago

Kent, Vanessa, and Angela McIntyre. From Protection to Empowerment: Civilians as Stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Institute for Security Studies, 2004. https://issafrica.org/topics/corruption-and-governance/01-feb-2004-from-protection-to-empowerment-civilians-as-stakeholders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kent |first1=Vanessa |last2=McIntyre |first2=Angela |title=From Protection to Empowerment: Civilians as Stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=February 2004 |url=https://issafrica.org/topics/corruption-and-governance/01-feb-2004-from-protection-to-empowerment-civilians-as-stakeholders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kent2004from, author = {Kent, Vanessa and McIntyre, Angela}, title = {{From Protection to Empowerment: Civilians as Stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2004}, month = feb, url = {https://issafrica.org/topics/corruption-and-governance/01-feb-2004-from-protection-to-empowerment-civilians-as-stakeholders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }