Barriers to sustainable and inclusive peace: a study of root causes of conflicts in Democratic Republic of Congo

• Grant number: 22/01182-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 03, 2023
• End date: May 02, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Suzeley Kalil Mathias
• Grantee: Maria Eduarda Kobayashi Rossi
• Supervisor: Daniela Rute dos Santos Nascimento
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade de Coimbra (UC), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/04480-3 - Turning pain to power: the City of Joy in Democratic Republic of Congo peacebuilding, BP.IC

Abstract

Institutional weaknesses, poverty and sexual violence show the insecurity scenario in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Even with the signing of several agreements and the presence of external interventions, peace hasn't been reached in the country yet. Some authors emphasize that such difficulties are consequences of the failure of the Security Sector Reform (SSR), others argue that the current conflict situation is a consequence of a colonizing past, which caused irreparable trauma to Congolese society. In view of this, the objective of this BEPE project is to understand, in depth, what are the root causes of the conflicts that make up the wider scenario of violence in the DRC, and how they structure barriers to civil society engagement, specially grassroots, in the processes of building and sustaining peace. (AU)