Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Congo (Democratic Republic) – History'

History has proven time and time again that conflict is an inevitable aspect of any given society. The seemingly long-standing nature of conflicts in Africa has been changing over time and these conflicts have been either inter-state or intra-state. However, sometimes intrastate wars have escalated into regional conflicts. These scenarios can be seen in the Great Lakes region of Africa where you have the civil war of 1996-7 and the rebellion, which began in 1998 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the DRC there have been at least four stages of conflict. The first is against the Belgians and secondly, the civil strife of the early 1960s. Third, is the civil strife against Mobutu and fourthly, currently against Kabila. The expanding nature of conflict is characterised by power struggles, politicisation of ethnicity, and the impact of external forces. It is noted that the expanding nature of conflict calls for a change in the methods of conflict management and resolution. Initially conflicts were resolved through military intervention. but with the complexity of African wars it has become apparent that peaceful methods are more prudent. With reference to Africa it can be assumed that conflicts need to be increasingly resolved through political means, such as the use of the diplomatic process. The conflict in Chad between 1968 and 1984 is a good example in which military intervention was used but failed, giving way to mediation and negotiation through the use of diplomacy. Both the DRC and Chadian conflicts are similar because they witnessed the influence of external forces (neighbouring countries and non-African states such as France and the US) and African states attempting to find solutions to their own problems. The conflict in the DRC provides a unique example of the changing nature of intra-state conflict in Africa. Thus, the study aims to trace the characteristics of conflict in the DRC and attempts made at conflict management and resolution. The study uses the period bet ween 1996 and 1999 because it highlights this change in the nature and character of conflict.

The role of natural resources in African conflicts has been subject to extensive scholarly analysis. However, much of this analysis has taken a narrow economic reductionist bias. As such, it is imperative that the dominant assumptions and accepted concepts and theories about the role of natural resources in African conflicts be re-examined. The aim of this thesis is to offer a revaluation of the role of coltan during the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Second War (1998-2003) through a critical engagement with the resource wars literature. The purpose is to offer a re-reading of the role of coltan in the DRC Second War and the broader regional and global economic context in which this conflict took place. It rejects the commonly cited assumption that the presence of coltan in the DRC means it is an initiator of conflict. Rather, this thesis argues that the central role of coltan in the DRC Second War was as an aggravator of conflict in that its exploitation was used by different parties to fund their military and political ambitions. This thesis also argues that the DRC’s weak state structures and pivotal role within the Great Lakes region, as well as the international trade of coltan and the nature of the DRC coltan mining industry are all key factors in understanding coltan exploitation in the country’s Eastern Region during the Second War.

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Bachelors
Arts and Humanities
History

Enjeu politique majeur pour le pouvoir colonial, l’intimité sexuelle, familiale et domestique des populations en situation coloniale a fait l’objet de nombreuses tentatives de contrôle de la part des autorités belges au Congo. Utilisé comme preuve de l'infériorité supposée des Africains et de la supériorité supposée des Européens, le domaine de l’intimité fut à la fois au cœur de la construction des hiérarchies raciales et de la "mission civilisatrice". Cette étude retrace l’évolution des politiques de l'administration coloniale liées au mariage et à la sexualité au Congo Belge entre 1908 et 1945, telles qu’elles sont élaborées en métropole puis relayées et appliquées sur le terrain colonial. Elle illustre notamment les difficultés du pouvoir colonial à discipliner la vie privée de ses propres agents, et à imposer de nouvelles normes d’intimité et de genre aux populations colonisées. L'étude est structurée autour de trois parties. La première traite des régulations morales dont est l'objet la communauté colonisatrice, c'est-à-dire de la manière dont le pouvoir colonial débat et tente de policer, au milieu de multiples contradictions, les "mœurs" de ses agents européens et de leurs familles. La deuxième partie analyse les régulations du mariage et des formes de sexualité dites "traditionnelles" des populations colonisées. J'y étudie tout d'abord la polygamie et les systèmes de compensation matrimoniale: ces pratiques constituent les deux principaux sujets de débats et de mesures pour les autorités coloniales qui y voient, non sans raison, les fondements des systèmes matrimoniaux congolais. Sont ensuite abordées la question plus confidentielle de la fixation de l'âge de puberté des jeunes filles "indigènes" en même temps que celle du "mariage des filles non-nubiles" (expression utilisée pour désigner les mariages précoces). La troisième partie de la thèse s'interroge sur les anxiétés et les régulations visant les évolutions "modernes" du mariage et les nouvelles formes d' "immoralité" qui sont associées aux espaces urbains. Après avoir interrogé les redéfinitions des frontières du moral et de l'immoral à l'aune du développement urbain de la colonie (de manière générale et à partir de l'exemple de la catégorie des "danses obscènes"), j'ai privilégié l'étude des pratiques prostitutionnelles et des défis qu'elles posent aux ambitions de contrôle des autorités coloniales. Enfin, le dernier chapitre clôt la boucle en revenant aux conjugalités "licites" et en abordant les "troubles" que la modernité coloniale est supposée y avoir généré (adultère, divorce, abandon de domicile conjugal, concubinage, etc) et dont les femmes sont en grande part jugées responsables.

Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
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Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study focuses on the nascent colonial tourist sector of the Belgian Congo from 1945 until independence in 1960. Empire in Africa was the last remaining vestige of might for the depleted European imperial powers following the Second World War. That might, however, was largely illusory, especially for Belgium, which had been both defeated and occupied by Germany. Post-war Belgium placed much value on its colonial role in the Belgian Congo, promoting and marketing its imperial mission to domestic and international audiences alike. Such efforts allowed Belgium to justify a system that was under fire from the new superpowers of the United States of America (USA) and the Soviet Union. This thesis makes the case that the Belgian authorities recognised the opportunity to harness the ‘new’ economic activity of tourism to help deliver pro-colonial propaganda, particularly to the USA which had a growing affluent class and where successive administrations were keen to encourage overseas travel. In building a tourism sector post the Second World War, efforts in diversifying the economy were secondary to the objective of using the marketing of tourism to actively position and promote Belgium’s long-term involvement in the Congo.

The thesis focuses on the historical-diachronic analysis of the development of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s educational sector, with particular reference to the context of Nord Kivu and its capital Goma. The thesis aim is to understand and investigate how the DRC's educational sector has managed to be resilient over time (especially with regard to its funding), taking into account the interaction of different actors involved. Through the application of Tobias Hagmann and Didier Péclard's negotiated statehood approach to the Congolese educational sector and to a specific school in Goma, Bemba Gombo / Saint Franҫois Xavier Insitute, it is possible to understand who are the principal actors in the educational field, and which actors are excluded from the negotiating tables of the Congolese educational sector.

La tâche de cette thèse consiste à cerner la crise du journalisme dans un contexte propre aux pays confrontés à des crises profondes, particulièrement celui de l’espace médiatique congolais. La période de transition politique – qui s’est déroulée entre 1990 et 2006 – a été privilégiée, en raison de son ouverture au pluralisme médiatique et du foisonnement des médias dans un État marqué jadis par un quasi-monopole étatique sur le secteur.

Partant de l’argument selon lequel le journalisme congolais s’exerce dans un environnement de crise – celle-ci étant comprise comme un lieu d’inversion des valeurs et, par conséquent, favorable à la transgression des normes –, notre thèse se structure autour de trois hypothèses. Premièrement, serait-il moralement, mieux éthiquement acceptable, pour les journalistes, de transgresser les règles de leur profession, étant donné qu’ils évoluent dans un environnement de crise ?Dans l’affirmative, au nom de quels principes et de quelle éthique ces pratiques transgressives seraient-elles justifiées ?Deuxièmement, ces pratiques, pour autant qu’elles sont susceptibles d’être légitimées au nom d’une certaine éthique, seraient-elles préjudiciables à la qualité de l’information ?

Pour répondre à ces interrogations, notre démarche vise, d’abord, à circonscrire la crise congolaise ;puis à identifier, grâce à une approche empirique, les pratiques journalistiques ;enfin, à mesurer les retombées de ces pratiques sur l’information livrée au public.
Doctorat en Information et communication
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La République démocratique du Congo vit particulièrement un moment difficile, mais décisif dans son histoire pour ramener la paix, favoriser l’inclusion sociale et garantir la sécurité des peuples qui vivent sur toute l’étendue du pays sans distinction de race, d’origine ethnique, de classe sociale, d’idéologie, de confession religieuse, etc.

En effet, les rébellions, les guerres ethniques ou tribales, les rivalités et les dissensions inter groupales continuent à affecter la vie politique, économique et sociale de ce pays depuis la période précoloniale en passant par la période coloniale et postcoloniale. Cette préoccupation majeure suscite des interrogations fondamentales :de quelle manière peut-on aujourd’hui ériger un projet politique qui soit à mesure de redéfinir les finalités socio-politiques, cultuelles, et économiques globales qui accordent une meilleure écoute aux productions de sens qui émanent des valeurs théoriques de chaque groupe social, en sublimant ce qui rapproche et non ce qui divise ?Comment dépasser les clivages excluant issus des situations de crise (traite, colonisation, rébellions, guerres, dissensions) ?Comment mettre sur pied un espace commun qui serait le lieu d’échange libre où chacun exprimerait son opinion dans le respect et la dignité de l’autre ?

C’est à ces questions et à beaucoup d’autres encore que cette thèse tente de répondre. Il s’agit en fait, d’une étude à caractère paradigmatique réalisée dans le groupe Ankutshu-Membele, à la lumière des approches occidentales du pouvoir et de la démocratie. Elle s’assigne comme objectif principal de problématiser la conception du pouvoir à travers la culture et les religions de ce peuple, en vue de tenter d’établir les conditions de possibilités d’intégration de cette société traditionnelle vers une société moderne multiculturelle et démocratique.

Doctorat en Philosophie
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This dissertation is a study of the dynamics of armed mobilization and participation in non-state armed organizations in the province of South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It asks one of the fundamental questions of the study of violent conflict: Why do people participate in armed groups? In addressing this central question, it also addresses the inter-related questions of how do people come to participate in armed groups and who participates in these groups. I make three main arguments. First, contemporary armed mobilization is driven by two ‘macro’ factors in rural eastern DRC, the necessity to organize and provide protection to the sociopolities that constitute rural eastern Congo on one side, and the more accumulative dynamics of labour mobilization and control that have long characterized the region and have taken novel forms with the development of an economy of predation. The protective dimension in particular has often been left out in recent accounts that have focused or economic agendas of armed groups. Second, the ‘social architecture’ of armed mobilization in the region has changed to reflect the social implantation of armed organizations in rural eastern Congo, resulting from the novel roles they play in these societies and the adaptation of these societies to their presence. As a result, modes of recruitment and control reflect the multi-faceted influence that these organizations have over rural societies. Third, I argue and show that individual determinants of participation are not time invariant, they evolve over time and reflect the changes in outlook and motivations of participants that results from the social implantation of armed organizations, but also as a result of the process of participation. In order to make these arguments, I use a mixed methods approach that combines a qualitative analysis based on interviews carried out during 9 months of fieldwork in the province of South Kivu, and a quantitative analysis based on original panel data collected through a survey of 1072 individuals and 134 villages of South Kivu.

Cette étude a pour but d’analyser les pratiques d’enseignement de l’histoire dans les écoles secondaires de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) en rapport avec le nouveau programme d’application à partir de septembre 2005. En effet, le cours d’histoire qui constitue une matière stratégique et représente un enjeu important à l’école secondaire, a échoué, pendant plusieurs décennies (de 1962 à 2005), à l’essentiel de la mission qu’il est censé remplir à ce niveau de la scolarité en RDC. Ce constat d’échec, plus net et plus évident que pour toutes les autres matières, était surtout imputable au contenu des matières jugé européocentrique et inadapté, ainsi qu’aux manuels totalement dépassés sur tous les plans (conception, objectifs …). Les critiques à l’endroit de cette discipline touchaient également à la méthodologie car l’enseignement de l’histoire est, probablement, plus que toute autre discipline, susceptible de s’adapter constamment. Cette adaptation est requise pour le contenu de l’histoire scolaire ainsi que pour la façon de l’enseigner.

Mais, si le nouveau programme (de 2005) a «décolonisé» le contenu des matières, les pratiques de terrain semblent encore immuables !Qu’est ce qui peut expliquer cet immobilisme ?Pour tenter de répondre à cette question, cette thèse procède par une double démarche, théorique et empirique. La démarche théorique qui fait l’objet de la première partie, brosse la littérature sur notre problématique, donne un aperçu de l’histoire de l’enseignement et de l’enseignement de l’histoire en RDC, aborde le savoir conceptuel de l’enseignant d’histoire et les pratiques d’enseignement et enfin, traite de la motivation des élèves ainsi que du matériel didactique. Quant à la deuxième partie consacrée à la démarche empirique, elle est centrée sur l’approche méthodologique de la recherche, l’analyse et l’interprétation des résultats quantitatifs et qualitatifs.

L’analyse des réponses aux questions administrées auprès de notre échantillon, composé d’une part de 64 enseignants et, d’autre part, de 600 élèves ainsi que l’analyse des observations de 10 classes d’histoire et des interviews avec les enseignants des classes visitées ont permis d’appréhender l’application du nouveau programme et les autres réalités de terrain.

En somme, les résultats de cette étude montrent que les enseignants dispensant le cours d’histoire en 5e et 6e secondaires, utilisent, presque tous, les modes transmissifs et ignorent la pédagogie active ou les modes actifs proposés par le nouveau programme d’histoire ;ce qui ne motive pas, sans doute, les élèves à ce cours. Autrement dit, malgré leur haute qualification, leur longue expérience dans l’enseignement et le changement de contenu, ces enseignants d’histoire ne pratiquent pas la pédagogie active ou les modes actifs. On semble être donc loin de la « décolonisation », tant souhaitée, des pratiques en classe d’histoire en RDC.

Au regard de ce qui précède, nous pensons que pour mieux enseigner l’histoire, les enseignants congolais devraient avoir d’autres ambitions qu’une simple transmission des connaissances (savoirs) destinées à être simplement enregistrées et restituées par les élèves lors des interrogations et examens. Le rôle fondamental du cours d’histoire étant d’informer et de former, le souci constant qui devrait animer les enseignants est de susciter et de renouveler l’intérêt des élèves, de les aider à construire leurs savoirs, pour qu’ils deviennent des vrais acteurs de la société de demain. Car, nous estimons que la reconstruction d’un pays, comme la RDC, passe aussi par la reconstitution et la sauvegarde de la mémoire collective et du patrimoine culturel, tâches qui relèvent du domaine de l’enseignement de l’histoire.
Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation
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It is today commonly acknowledged that rape is a weapon of war. This consensus has been achieved in significant part through the efforts of feminist scholars and activists. Yet the consensus hides a multiplicity of ways in which weapons of war might function. This thesis uncovers and critically explores that variety. First, it turns to questions of what makes a form of inquiry specifically feminist, the better to understand the foundations for claims about rape as a weapon of war. Having offered a critique of existing divisions of empiricist, standpoint and postmodern feminisms (and of the distinction between feminism and gender theory), the thesis proposes a view of feminism as critical explanation: as at once explanatory, political and ethical inquiry. These view is expanded on through a framework of modes of critical explanation: styles of reasoning that provide analytical wagers, narrative scripts and normative orientations for feminist inquiry. Second, the thesis explores three such modes of critical explanation in relation to wartime sexual violence. It argues that the modes of instrumentality, unreason and mythology implicitly structure feminist claims about war rape. Each is examined in turn, with particular attention to how the forms of explanation mirror debates found in war studies and in social theory more generally. Each mode is clarified and expanded on, resulting in sets of propositions for each mode and in a clearer sense of where modes contradict each other and where they may combine. Third, this meta-theoretical and theoretical framework is applied to the specific case of atrocity in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Working through several kinds of empirical material (studies of sexual violence, histories of conflict in the Great Lakes, data on economic dimensions of violence and testimony from combatants and ex-combatants on the topic of sexual violence), the thesis shows how 'the rape capital of the world' is best understood in terms of themes derived from the modes of unreason and mythology. It explores retaliatory atrocity, extractive sexual violence and fragmented sexual aggression as three situated dynamics of violence. This part thus critiques a narrowly instrumentalist idea of wartime sexual violence as a strategy of profiteering, whilst also attending to how economic dimensions matter in the war complex as a whole. The conclusion draws out consequences for further work, especially in relation to a comparative project for the critical explanation of wartime sexual violence.

Les idéologies politiques africaines :mythe du pouvoir ou instance du développement ?

Réflexion épistémologique sur le nationalisme congolais à la lumière de la théorie rawlsienne de la justice.

Panafricanisme, négritude, consciencisme, socialisme et nationalisme ont eu en gros sur le sol africain, une double mission :-délivrer les pays du joug colonial

sortir ces pays du sous-développement par un travail d’une

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Doctorat en Philosophie
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À la différence des arts rupestres du Sahara ou d’Afrique australe, richement documentés, ceux d’Afrique centrale restent encore aujourd’hui largement méconnus. L’art rupestre du Bas-Congo s’étend de Kinshasa à la côte atlantique et du nord de l’Angola au sud du Congo-Brazzaville. Bien que signalé dès le XIXe siècle par James Tuckey, lors de sa reconnaissance du fleuve Congo, il n’a jamais fait l’objet d’une recherche de grande ampleur et son âge reste toujours incertain.

Peuplé par les Ndibu, un des sous-groupes kongo, le massif de Lovo se trouve au nord du royaume de Kongo. Bien que ce royaume soit l’un des mieux documentés de toute l’Afrique, tant par les sources historiques à partir de 1500 que par les sources ethnographiques et anthropologiques pour les périodes plus récentes, son archéologie reste méconnue. Avec 102 sites (dont 16 grottes ornées), le massif de Lovo contient la plus importante concentration de sites rupestres de toute la région, ce qui représente plus de 5000 images rupestres. Sur environ 400 km2 se dressent des centaines de massifs calcaires au relief ruiniforme, percés de nombreuses grottes et abris sous roche.

Par mon étude qui tente de croiser les points de vue ethnologique, historique, archéologique et mythologique, j’ai pu montrer que l’art rupestre a bel et bien une part importante dans la culture kongo. Au même titre que les sources historiques ou les traditions orales, il peut apporter aux historiens une documentation de premier plan et contribuer à reconstruire le passé de l’Afrique.

In contrast with the Sahara and Southern Africa, Central Africa is superficially presented and largely overlooked in general publications and compilations regarding rock art research. The rock art of Lower Congo is concentrated in a region that stretches from Kinshasa to the Atlantic coast and from Northern Angola to Southern Congo-Brazzaville. Although already reported in the nineteenth century by James Tuckey during his exploration of the Congo River, it had never been a subject of thorough investigation. As a result, its age has long remained uncertain.

Presently inhabited by the Ndibu, one of the Kongo subgroups, the Lovo Massif is situated north of the ancient Kongo kingdom. Although Kongo has been, since the end of the fifteenth century, one of the best-documented kingdoms of Africa, both through historical records and through ethnographic and anthropological studies in more recent times, in archaeological terms it remains largely unknown. With 102 sites (including 16 decorated caves), the Lovo Massif has the largest concentration of rock art in the entire region. Hundreds of limestone outcrops with carved surfaces, punctuated by numerous caves and rocky overhangs, rise up over an area of about 400 square kilometers. 

Through the research I have undertaken, it has been possible to determine for the first time direct dates for the rock art of Lower Congo. The study of the previously unknown decorated caves of Tovo and Nkamba, in particular, has allowed me to ascertain the chronology and the interpretation of these rock images.

Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
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La question des infections sexuellement transmissibles (IST) en Afrique a longtemps été

négligée par des chercheurs africains spécialistes en sciences sociales, en raison notamment du tabou

qui entoure la sexualité dans ce continent. Toutefois, les dernières décennies ont donné lieu à plusieurs

recherches menées principalement par les Européens africanistes sur ces pathologies grâce à

l’émergence de la pandémie actuelle du Sida. La plupart des travaux réalisés sont axés sur les facteurs

de risque, les mécanismes de diffusion, les croyances et les attitudes populaires face à ces maladies, les

politiques de lutte, etc. Mais les études historiques consacrées aux IST sont très rares. Celles qui

existent ont surtout mis en évidence la dimension démographique axée sur le problème de la dénatalité

en laissant dans l’ombre le contexte socio-historique et les conditions socio-épidémiologiques de

propagation de ces affections. Au moment où le Sida fait des ravages dans le monde et tout

particulièrement en Afrique subsaharienne, l’intérêt d’une réflexion historique sur les IST au Congo

n’est plus à démontrer.

Contrairement à une affirmation classiquement admise dans la littérature, selon laquelle la

lutte contre les IST au sein de la population congolaise fut un franc succès pour les autorités coloniales

surtout après la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, cette thèse montre plutôt l’augmentation de la prévalence

des IST dans le temps. Les archives inédites et l’analyse des données révèlent que cette progression

continue est la conséquence de l'urbanisation accélerée et de la monétarisation de la société et de la sexualité entraînant des modes de vie propres à la société coloniale urbaine. Les villes issues de ce processus deviendront non seulement des espaces

d’acculturation et de modernité, mais aussi des lieux d’expansion de ces maladies. Le développement

de la prostitution et la multiplicité des partenaires sexuels, à travers les unions plus libres et

momentanées, sont les principaux facteurs explicatifs de cette observation.

On présente généralement de manière panégyrique l’oeuvre sanitaire coloniale de la Belgique

au Congo comme ‘‘modèle’’. Pourtant, aucune étude n’a déjà été menée pour examiner, de manière

chiffrée, les aspets liés aux différences de santé entre les Congolais et les Blancs. Cette

dissertation vient combler les lacunes existantes dans ce domaine. De ce point de vue, il en résulte de

fortes inégalités et des déséquilibres persistants de santé entre ces deux types de populations. Les Congolais beaucoup plus

nombreux, socialement défavorisés, ne bénéficient que d’une situation peu ou moins favorable ;tandis

que les Blancs, socialement plus favorisés, bénéficient en général d’une meilleure situation sanitaire.

Plusieurs indicateurs élaborés dans ce travail sont révélateurs de cette réalité coloniale, en termes

d’équipements sanitaires, d’accès et d’utilisation de soins et d’état de santé différencié./

The issue of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in Africa has long been neglected by

researchers African social scientists, particularly because of the taboo surrounding sexuality in Africa.

However, recent decades have resulted in several research conducted mainly by the European

Africanists on these diseases through the emergence of the current pandemic of AIDS. Most of studies

are focused on risk factors, distribution mechanisms, the popular attitudes about these infections,

control policies. But historical studies on STI are seldom examined. Those that exist are mainly

concerning the demographic dimension focuses on the problem of declining birth, leaving the socio-historical

and socio-epidemiological spread of such diseases. While AIDS is ravaging the world and

especially in sub-Saharan Africa, one thing to mention is that the interest of historical reflection on

STI in the Congo is obvious.

Contrary to an assertion conventionally accepted in the literature, that the fight against

gonorrhea and syphilis among the Congolese population was a success for the colonial authorities,

especially after the Second World War, our thesis shows rather the increasing prevalence of STI. The

archives and analysis of data indicates this continued progress is the result of special conditions of

industrialization and urbanization colonial that make people vulnerable. Cities from this historical

process will not only areas of acculturation and modernity, but also places for expansion of these

diseases. The development of prostitution and multiple sexual partners through free and temporary

unions are the main factors explaining this observation.

It has generally praises how the actions of Belgian colonial health in the Congo as 'model'.

However, no study has been conducted to establish or to compare quantitatively the health status

between Blacks (Congolese) and Withes (Europeans in majority). This essay shows the social health

inequalities among these two populations. The Congolese many in number, but more socially

disadvantaged have only less favorable conditions to health. While the white people, socially

privileged, generally have better health status. Several indicators developed in this study are revealing

of the colonial reality in terms of sanitation, access and use of care and health status differential.
Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie
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In Kisangani, as in other parts of Africa subject to political parasitism and economic chaos, people have had to draw on many channels of access to resources in order to survive. This pattern of shifting strategies militates against sustained investment in food supply and thus is a major factor in the food crisis in Africa. Thirteen months of fieldwork in the city of Kisangani and the surrounding subregion of Tshopo revealed how constantly changing regulations, inflation and poor infrastructure forced merchants and farmers into diversification and made long-term investment in rice production and trade risky. Uncertainty in the supply of basic resources such as credit, seeds, fuel, spare parts and produce sacks was linked to the draining of foreign exchange and development funds toward the nonproductive activities of the political élite. Controls on agricultural production such as the forced cultivation of rice led to suppression of African farmers' initiative. Trade in rice was in the hands of expatriate monopsonies until the 1970s, but the indigenization of expatriate businesses and plantations (zairianization) only served to isolate further the rural areas devastated by the Simba rebellion of the mid-1960s. In addition, zairianization fostered parasitism and discouraged investment. In the 1980s, farmers were blocked from organizing their own markets and cooperatives and farm labor was relegated telwomen. Large traders agreed to maintain controls on trade which perpetuated the bureaucracy in order to keep ahead of the mass of mobile small traders. Government programs, and approaches such as privatization and liberalization, initiated by Zaire's external investors, did not change the terms of access to resources within the Zairian economy and, thus, agricultural productivity did not increase. These findings support the theory that multiple survival strategies generated by economic chaos and circumvention of and collaboration with the state lead to declining agricultural productivity. This view has implications for agricultural development policy.

La réflexion est une Contribution à une analyse de la Sacralisation du pouvoir « moderne » et de ses conséquences :le cas Joseph-Désiré Mobutu. Ses motivations sont: l’ambiguïté de ce concept et, la résurgence des formes autoritaires de gouverner en Afrique noire. Cette étude tente de démontrer que la Sacralisation du pouvoir de Mobutu fut un frein au bon fonctionnement des sphères de la vie nationale. Sa première démarche a consisté à clarifier ce concept en le redéfinissant. Pour ce faire, l’étude s’est basée sur une approche holistique,pluridisciplaine, centrée sur 5 disciplines (Anthropologie politique, Droit Constitutionnel, Sociologie, Psychologie-Psychanalyse et Science politique). L’étude a opté comme point d’entrée :les supports de cette sacralisation du pouvoir de Mobutu et ses conséquences, axés sur les manifestations festives nationales ou autres événements importants. Elle a utilisé plusieurs techniques de collectes de données :les entretiens semi-directifs; la littérature secondaire; les journaux et revues; les films et documentaires; afin de répondre à 4 hypothèses de départ. L’analyse de ces données a reposé sur six niveaux.
Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
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Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka civil-militär samverkan vid fredsoperationen i Kongo 1960-1964 ur ett kulturkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Detta har gjorts i form av en fallstudie där litteratur av personer verksamma på plats i Kongo 1960-1964varit dominerande. Ur fallstudien framkommer att många samverkansproblem förekom trots ett genomtänkt koncept ochinsatser för att förbättra samverkan mellan civila och militärer. Vidare framkommer att militärer och civila i huvudsak upplevde likartade problem. I uppsatsen har kulturkonstruktivistisk teori använts som analytiskt verktyg och skillnader mellan civilaoch militära aktörers kollektiva identiteter, världsuppfattningar och normer utgjort grunden för attförklara samverkansproblemen. Vid analysen av empirin framkommer att samverkansproblem inte bara förekom mellan civila ochmilitära aktörer utan även inom respektive skrå och mellan olika nivåer i organisationen.Vidare framkommer att den kontext en person befinner sig i, likväl som dennes bakgrund och yrke,betyder mycket för den personens åsikter och värderingar. Min övergripande slutsats är att kulturkonstruktivistiska skillnader mellan civila och militära aktörer tillstor del kan anses förklara de problem som förekom i civil-militär samverkan vid fredsoperationen iKongo 1960-1964.
The aim of this essay is to study civil- military cooperation during the peace operationin Congo between 1960 and 1964 from a culture-constructivist perspective. The study has been performed as a case study and literature written mainly by militaryofficers and UN-officials who were in active duty in Congo between 1960 and 1964has been used.Based on the case study it appears that there were many cooperation problems, despitea well thought-out concept and a lot of efforts made by military and civilian personnelin order to improve civil-military cooperation. It also appears that military andcivilian personnel experienced similar problems. A culture-constructivist theory has been used as an analytic tool in the essay anddifferences between civil and military actors´ collective identities, opinions of realityand norms have constituted the foundation to explain cooperation problems. In the analysis it appears that cooperation problems not only occurred between civiland military actors but also within each branch (civil and military) and betweendifferent hierarchic levels in the organisation. It also appears that the context, inwhich a person exists, as well as the person’s background and profession, is importantfor that specific person’s opinions and set of values. The main conclusion of the analysis is that culture-constructivist differences betweencivil and military actors, at least to a large extent, can be seen as an explanation to theproblems that occurred in civil- military cooperation in the peace operation in Congoduring 1960-1964.
Avdelning: ALB - Slutet Mag 3 C-upps.Hylla: Upps. ChP 00-02

This study addresses the need for a parsimonious theoretical model to explain state-corporate crime. The Integrated Theoretical Model of State-Corporate Crime will be compared to the Integrated Theory of International Criminal Law Violation to determine which model provides the most accurate theoretical depiction of state- corporate crime, while retaining parsimony. For this comparison, the models will be applied to Democratic Republic of Congo case study. Using a secondary analysis of qualitative data and preexisting literature, it was found that the Integrated Theoretical Model of State-Corporate Crime displays a representative depiction of all state-corporate crime actors and their catalysts for action in a more parsimonious manner than the Integrated Theory of International Criminal Law Violation.

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.

Thesis (MTech (Business administration in entrepreneurship))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.
Interest in the domain of Entrepreneurship is growing considerably. Nevertheless, the plan of this study is to discover the distinctiveness of entrepreneurship in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The cutting-edge hostile environment for business developments of underdeveloped countries. In the case of the DRC, entrepreneurship is developed under life-threatening conditions, rarely seen elsewhere. These extreme conditions for entrepreneurship are present as the result of transitional particularities and the marginalised context deriving from political circumstances surrounding the DRC. Apart from the barriers and particularities of a business environment derived mainly from a transitional phase, the political situation has heavily influenced entrepreneurial developments in the country.

Girl child education has been a challenge for many African countries due to the patriarchal gender order of communities. This is not different in the Democratic Republic of Congo where son preference is still rife. This study sought to explore how girls in rural Lubaland in DRC experience their schooling in relation to the traditional gendered practices. A qualitative approach to research was employed within an interpretive paradigm. Young school going girls were purposively selected from two rural schools in Malemba and Mwanza. A total of 18 girls became participants to the study. Data were generated through the use of drawings and focus group discussions to explore how the girls saw themselves as girls and students at home, on the way to school and at school. This was done in order to understand how they experience their schooling lives. The findings revealed several gendered challenges that the rural girls experience daily in terms of gaining access to and succeeding in schools. The challenge of son preference and gender role stereotyping created challenges for girls at home, while lack of facilities for girls’ sexual health and long distances to school created challenges for girls on the way to school. At school the girls experienced challenge of being unable to afford school fees and corporal punishment. If these challenges are to be eradicated, there is need for all stakeholders in education, including traditional leaders and communities to deconstruct the gendered dynamics that position women and girls as subordinate and not deserving of an education. This study has implications for educational planning in the Democratic Republic of Congo for girl children to get better access and success in their education. The findings also highlight the need for more concerted efforts to understand the experiences of schooling girls across DRC in order to influence teacher training and educational provisioning that is girl friendly.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research report documents the results of a study that aims at investigating the potential contribution of a gender perspective towards conflict resolution. In this regard, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is used as a case in point. The study takes the form of an exploratory and descriptive study and extensive use is made of both primary and secondary sources of data. By arguing that a gender perspective on conflict will elucidate the way in which women are affected differently by conflict it logically follows that women should be permitted to assume their rightful positions in attempts at transforming conflict. The application of a gender perspective furthermore urges a revision of conflict resolution towards conflict management and transformation as the appropriate ways of bringing an end to war. This implies that the emphasis is shifted from a search for political solutions towards conflict prevention and early warning as the most effective ways of pre-empting violent conflict and the breakdown of peace-processes aimed at resolving violent conflicts. In the search for an appropriate role for women in conflict management, the study revisits a number of frameworks for the full and equal participation of women in conflict management at the international, regional and subregional levels of analysis. These frameworks are then applied to the situation in the DRC and some practical courses of action are proposed. While the study concludes that there is a clearly defined need for exposing the gender bias in the analysis and resolution of violent conflict, it notes that the patriarchal nature of the DRC and the international system will in many instances hamper progress towards the achievement of a non-patriarchal and nongendered peaceful social world order.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingsverslag dokumenteer die uitkomste van 'n studie wat daarna streef om die potensiële bydrae van vroue tot konflik resolusie te ondersoek. Tot hierdie end word die Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo as 'n gevalstudie gebruik. Die navorsings ontwerp is eksploratories en beskrywend en daar word ekstensief gebruik gemaak van beide primêre en sekondêre bronne van data. Deur aan te voer dat 'n gender perspektief op konflik die wyse waarop vroue verskillend geraak word deur konflik beklemtoon, volg dit logies hierop dat vroue toegelaat behoort te word om hul regmatig plek in te neem ten tyde van pogings tot konflik transformasie. Die toepassing van 'n gender perspektief dwing verder ook 'n hersiening van konflik resolusie en beskou konflik bestuur en transformasie as die gepaste maniere om oorlog tot 'n einde te bring. Dit bring mee dat daar 'n verskuiwing van klem plaasvind - vanaf 'n soeke na politieke oplossings na konflik voorkoming en vroeë/tydige waarskuwing as die mees effektiewe instrumente om geweldadige konflik en die ineenstorting van vredesprosesse te voorkom. In die soeke na die gepaste rol vir vroue in konflik bestuur, herondersoek die studie 'n aantal raamwerke vir die volledige en gelyke deelname van vroue in konflik bestuur op die internasionale, regionale en sub-regionale vlakke van analise. Hierdie raamwerke word dan toegepas op die situasie in the DRK, en praktiese riglyne word voorgehou. Hoewel die studie vind dat daar 'n duidelike gedefinieerde behoefte bestaan om die gender vooroordeel in die analisie en resolusie van konflik te openbaar, word dit ook aanvaar dat die patriargale aard van die DRK en die internasionale sisteem in die meeste gevalle ware vooruitgang in die daarstelling van 'n nie-patriargale, gelykregtige, vreedsame sosiale wêreldorde sal kniehalter.

There are few telephone lines available in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the vast majority of people in the DRC do not have access to basic telecommunications services. The obstacles to the sufficient development of the telecommunications infrastructure by either public or private sector organizations are not well understood. The three major goals of this project were: (a) to determine what telecommunications stakeholders perceive to be the primary factors that would encourage or inhibit investment in the DRC by surveying individuals who have direct knowledge of the telecommunications sector in the DRC; (b) to explore solutions for the lack of adequate investments in the telecommunications infrastructure by using a qualitative research approach based on an open-ended questionnaire with potential investors in the region; and (c) to provide recommendations for the development of an environment conducive to a successful telecommunications infrastructure in the DRe. The following three research methods were used in this study: (a) a survey of telecommunications stakeholders and scholars, (b) an open-ended questionnaire with potential telecommunications investors, and (c) a triangulation of the data collected from the survey, open-ended questionnaire, and the review of the literature. The findings indicated that telecommunications stakeholders perceive financially oriented obstacles to be the greatest obstacles to the development of telecommunications in the DRC; potential investors and domestic partners perceive organizational/policy obstacles to be the greatest issues. This gap in perceptions between the stakeholders and investors must be overcome in order to develop the sector. This study concluded that the government of the DRC should implement the following strategies to attract foreign investment and develop the sector: (a) maintain economic and political stability, (b) privatize the national operator, (c) create new legislation to promote investment and incentives in the sector, and (d) improve basic infrastructures in rural areas.

Since 1996, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been entangled in a cycle of violence. Extensive crimes that include summary executions, rapes, and the use of child soldiers are frequent in the eastern provinces of the DRC. Little is known, however, about the factors that have contributed to the emergence of these ongoing acts of terror. The study provides insights into the antecedent conditions of terrorism in this country. The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study is to examine the precursors of the conflict in the DRC. The study provides the opportunity to understand the degree and possible strength of the relationship between the criterion 'terrorist incidents' and the following predictors: political instability and economic activities in the DRC. Aberle's relative deprivation theory provided structure for the study. Research questions focused on the correlation between terrorist incidents and the 2 predictors: political stability and economic growth. A quantitative correlational study design was employed, using longitudinal secondary data 91 cases' obtained from 2 organizations: (a) the World Bank and (b) the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Data from these sources were analyzed using a panel data regression. Results indicated a significant, but negative, association between terrorist incidents and political stability. No significant correlation appeared between terrorist incidents and economic growth. The implications for social change include informing the Congolese government, the African Union's leaders, and the international community about the precursors to these terrorist acts, as well as the need to improve the socioeconomic conditions of civilian and restore the credibility of the governments.

This study addresses urban planning problems in the post-independence zones or townships of Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire. It serves as a demonstration project aiming at showing how local resources, labor and funds could be mobilized to help local people solve the problems affecting their communities. It supports the view that with little government support and/or international contribution, self-help projects could be initiated in Kinshasa city before they may be extended to the rest of the country. This particular pilot project is intended for the improvement of the Southern Extension District (S.E.D.).It covers an area about 5 Kilometers long and 2.5 Kms. wide, which comprises the entire zone of Bumbu, the eastern side of Makala, and the Northern side of Selembao zones. This site was selected for the various resources needed for the Self-Help Project. The major problems of this post-independence district are erosion/flooding, substandard houses, and lack of playgrounds for children.It is proposed that an organizational framework becreated, which will coordinate an ongoing process of improvement through self-help effort. Actions that the residents and the government need to undertake in order to create such a framework are suggested. Creation of an independent entity named "Office of Special Project", whose personnel will come from the Department of Planning and Urban Management (B.E.A.U.), Housing Department and Public Works department is also suggested. This office will serve as a sponsoring agency whose mission is to create a multipurpose co-operative at each zone or township level and to supervise the improvement process. Its staff will meet on a regular basis with the representatives of these co-operatives to discuss the problems of the community with the local people and provide them with the expertise needed to complete the project successfully.
Department of Urban Planning

The thesis will conduct qualitative content analysis, with the help of theories like electoral democracy and Dahl's theory of polyarchal democracy, the thesis will be able to investigate the grade of democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Throughout the research process, I will analyse these theories to measure the grade of democracy in the country. The focus of this thesis is to determine whether the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indeed related to democratic principles. In addition, I introduced previous reports, documents and theories to measure the grade of democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I analysed the views on these reports and documents by identifying the elements that describe democratic countries and using them to measure the democratic hierarchy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Elements such as freedom of expression, fair and free election and many others. These elements are studied to give a conclusion on the measurement of democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Finally, I conclude my research by presenting measures related to country ́s democracy. However, the Democratic Republic of Congo have failed to establish contact with democratic principles which has led to a lower grade of democracy.

The international community has constructed a dominant narrative to explain the prevalence of gendered violence in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This dominant narrative posits regional and national antagonisms over conflict minerals as the cause of the Congolese wars that have resulted in the mass rape of Congolese women and girls. Sexual violence against women and girls is portrayed as the most significant form of violence occurring during the Congolese wars. This narrative has had a substantial impact on how the international community has represented, researched and responded to Congolese women and gendered violence. I argue that this narrative is based on problematic conceptions of gender relations rooted in white Western feminism that are incompatible with the local experiences of Congolese women and men. The misconception of gender, gender relations and gender violence has engendered misguided intervention initiatives that have failed to produce meaningful change in the lives of Congolese women. This thesis challenges dominant discourses that inform and impose specific narratives of violence and development agendas. It moves beyond them to propose an alternative analysis of gender and gendered violence. It sheds light on the historical disconnection between international and local perspectives of gender and gender violence in the Congo, arguing that to be effective, international development and humanitarian discourses must be re-examined in light of the local socio-cultural context of eastern Congo.

As a result of the continued violence and poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), artisanal mining serves as an opportunity for livelihood construction for the population in the Eastern DRC. Though the dominant discourse of “conflict minerals” has deemed natural resources as the cause or consequence of violence in the Eastern DRC, minerals in fact only serve as a funding tool for various foreign and local armed groups in the region. This thesis consequently explores the ways in which artisanal miners can reap the benefits of the minerals they work tirelessly to extract, using and adapting policies from two relatively successful case studies, Tanzania and Sierra Leone. In addition, this thesis proposes distinct top-down and bottom-up approaches the DRC should adopt to combat its equity issues, and finds that bottom-up methods have been the most ignored, yet successful in avoiding conflict and favoring miners’ livelihoods.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil
Background: In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 22.2% of the total population is in the age group of 15 to 24 years. In this country, this population group faces a large number of reproductive health problems. Even though the concerned health officials have implemented several health care programs, the youth particularly girls still have many problems particularly lack of sexual health information, poor health care, inability to avoid early and unprotected sexual relationships, early marriage, early pregnancies, early childbearing, etc. Objectives: The aim of this study is to examine reproductive health issues among young women and to understand how they utilise the health care systems in their respective socio-economic and demographic characteristic. Data and Methods: Descriptive and multivariate analyses were used. Cross tabulation, Chi-square, Phi coefficient and Cramer‘s V were applied to test for association between independents and outcome variables. At multivariate level of analysis, binary logistic regression was performed. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Results: The study found that young women who faced early sexual intercourse (OR=73.5) and those who experienced it at 16-17 (OR= 42.3) are more at risk of early marriage than those who initiated at the age 18-24. Meanwhile, young women with no education (OR=14.1), primary and secondary education (OR=10.7 and OR=8.6 respectively) have a higher risk of early union than their higher educated counterparts. Furthermore, respondents who married in their early adolescence (OR=38.3) and middle (OR=20.0) adolescence are more at risk of early childbearing than those who married in their emerging adulthood. Moreover, young women from Maniema, Equateur and Bas Congo provinces are 95%, 62% and 58% (respectively) less likely to have had at least four ANC visits than those from Kinshasa. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for formal sex education before first sexual initiation to give better options than early marriage to adolescent girls. Also, the disparities in the antenatal care services utilization between provinces should be addressed. The concerned authorities should balance the distribution of health facilities and qualified personal among provinces.

There are negative personal, psychological, and professional implications of working with individuals who have suffered from trauma, to include secondary trauma. A significant research gap exists in regard to how secondary trauma bears on psychosocial assistants (PAs). Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has a shortage of trained and licensed mental health providers, and as a result, mental health services have been shifted to PAs. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory and Orem's theory of self-care, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of secondary trauma, through face to face interviews with 13 PAs in Bukavu. The collected data was analyzed using Bryman's four stages of coding. This study found that PAs experienced symptoms of secondary trauma. In talking about their experiences, the themes that emerged included personal changes, perseverance, fear and insecurity, suffering, "thinking too much," nervousness, feeling lost, conflict of compassion, hopelessness, helplessness, religion, faith, the role of God and conflict. PAs had limited knowledge of secondary trauma, its effects and how to manage it. Loneliness, strength, faith, time, money and self-protection, were prominent themes around PAs' discussion of their training and experiences with coping. The findings of this research add to the understanding of secondary trauma of these PAs and may influence the personal and professional wellbeing of PAs through gaining knowledge about their experiences. Understanding secondary trauma in PAs may impact social change in the DRC through influencing the structuring of policies and delivery of mental health services to protect workers and beneficiaries.

The relationships between parasitic infections, environmental and living conditions, and health outcomes were studied in subdivisions of lower (LSES) and higher (HSES) socio-economic status Lubumbashi, Zaire. The two LSES subdivisions had higher prevalences of Plasmodium infection and higher rates of stunting, abdominal pain and low packed cell volume (PCV) than the HSES subdivision. The prevalence and intensity of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura was not associated with socio-economic status. Maternal education was a significant predictor of A. lumbricoides intensity in both LSES and HSES subdivisions. Factors related to poor sanitation were risk factors for A. lumbricoides in LSES subdivisions, whereas a high ratio of relatives to immediate family members per household predicted high intensity infection in the HSES subdivision. The risk of stunting was higher in children with A. lumbricoides, that of wasting was higher in children with A. lumbricoides or T. trichiura whereas the risk of kwashiorkor was high with T. trichiura but very reduced in those with A. lumbricoides. The four most common clinical conditions were diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and low PCV. Hookworm infection, T. trichiura infection, young age and residence in LSES subdivisions were determinants of diarrhea. T. trichiura infection, young age and living in a LSES subdivision were risk factors for abdominal pain. Plasmodium infection and young age were associated with fever. LSES was predictive of low PCV. No combination of parasites had antagonistic or synergistic effects on clinical indicators examined. Based on this study, it is suggested that one parasite will increase the risk of infection with another. Although maternal education should be improved in all subdivisions, attention to sanitation, crowding and diet in the LSES subdivisions, and to the role of relatives and visitors in parasite transmission in the HSES subdivision should be priorities.

Increasing and unsustainable demands on Africa's natural resources are having a profound effect on wild primate populations. Whilst wild populations are decreasing, numbers of orphaned primates, sanctuaries and attempts to reintroduce primates back to the natural environment, are increasing. Data were collected on the present status of African ape sanctuaries from questionnaires distributed to sanctuary managers. Across Africa there are 18 sanctuaries housing over 500 African great apes. Facilities and ideologies vary but the majority of sanctuaries profess a commitment to conservation through education, local capacity building, facilitating the enforcement of wildlife laws and other activities. From 1996 to 2001 the non-governmental organisation Habitat Ecologique et Liberte des Primates has released 37 wild-born chimpanzees(Pan troglodytes troglodytes) from an island sanctuary to mainland forest in the Conkouati-Douli National Park, Republic of Congo. Twenty-seven chimpanzees have been successfully reintroduced, three are known to have died and the status of seven remains unknown. This thesis investigated the behavioural adaptation of 15 of these released chimpanzees and reviews the reintroduction process employed. Analyses of post-release behavioural data revealed that activity budgets and diet were comparable to those of wild chimpanzees, and that seasonal variation influenced feeding behaviour and plant speciess election. The chimpanzees utilised both terrestrial and arboreal zones and all nested in trees. A number of recommendations are made for future reintroduction projects. These include selecting a release site that has no, or a low density of, wild conspecifics; developing a relationship of trust between chimpanzee and caretakers without excessive dependency; using the release site for pre-release training; use of radio telemetry; post-release support and monitoring. This study has revealed the many complex factors that are involved in the reintroduction process. Future attempts to reintroduce chimpanzees should be guided by the experiences and recommendations of the present study to maximise success.

Review of forestry policy and deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a look at REDD, national parks, forest certification systems, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and a focus on community-based conservation.

ABSTRACT Background: Schistosomiasis is a chronic parasitological disease and constitutes one of the major neglected public health problems in the word. The consequences that this disease causes in the population are subject of controversy. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of schistosomiasis in term of malnutrition, anemia and low school performance in an endemic region, naïve of interventions. Methods: The study was conducted in Kasansa health zone in Democratic Republic of Congo where schistosomiasis has been endemic for decades. School aged children were recruited at home. From each child, anthropometric measures, biological and laboratory exams were obtained. The questionnaire was used for economic status, behavior and other factors related to schistosomiasis. Regression logistic was used to control confounding factors. A 95% confidence interval was used for statistically significance. Results: The proportion of malnutrition was 53.8%, anemia 67.0% and low school performance 41.1%. In this health zone, the study found and confirmed a high proportion of children who are infected with S. mansoni (89.3%) and malaria (65.1%). Conclusions: This study showed high proportions of complications that are usually reported as associated with schistosomiasis, among school aged children in the health zone of Kasansa. Future studies are needed to show causality and to find efficient ways to control these morbidities.

This research analyses the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships in enhancing governance to promote sustainable peace and security. It uses a case study of coltan exploitation and armed conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the two wars between 1996 and 2003 and the ongoing conflict have led to the ‘world’s worst humanitarian crisis’. The current body of knowledge on conflict analyses, particularly ‘resource curse’ theory, emphasises the natural resource endowment and weak governance as the main factors contributing to the DRC conflict, and has been influential in policy formulation. The case study is supported by the collection and analysis of qualitative data from multiple sources using different methods including literature reviews, interviews and observations. In so doing, the research seeks to examine how multi-stakeholder partnerships can help to enhance governance and promote sustainable peace and security, with a focus on the role of the multi-stakeholder partnerships in curtailing revenues for the belligerents from coltan production and trade in the eastern DRC. The analysis of the conflicts and coltan exploitation revealed the intricate multi-layered nature of the conflicts in the DRC and their complex causalities. The examination of the multi-stakeholder partnerships relevant to coltan exploitation in the DRC identified a number of constraints for their implementation and concerns about adverse effects from the implementation, largely owing to the externally driven agenda of the partnerships, which neglects the local perspectives. Through the arguments presented in this thesis, the research contributes to knowledge in three broad areas: it contributes to ongoing academic discussions on conflict analyses, in particular the resource curse hypothesis and the economic agendas of civil war; it provides empirical analysis and data on the coltan industry and partnership initiatives in relation to armed conflicts in the eastern DRC; and it highlights the need to re-assess the concept of participatory governance as one of the key approaches to improving governance.

Despite international efforts, the malaria burden remains high worldwide with half of all malaria-attributable deaths occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria. Children under five and pregnant women bear the heaviest burden. New treatment options for falciparum malaria are urgently needed due to potential wide spreading plasmodium resistance to artemisinin derivatives. In the first study, amodiaquine-artesunate, artemether-lumefantrine (AL) and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PQ) were assessed in 684 Congolese children under 5. The efficacy was good and comparable for all combinations. The short parasitaemia clearance half-life suggested that the local parasite populations are still susceptible to the artemisinin derivatives. DHA-PQ provided the greatest prophylactic effect making it a good candidate for Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy. Plasma level of piperaquine and lumefantrine in small children at day 7 was however suboptimal indicating the necessity of adjusting the current dosage. Artemether-lumefantrine is the most recommended ACT for malaria treatment in pregnancy although its pharmacokinetics properties are altered in this group. In the second study, the PK, efficacy, safety and tolerability of a 5 days regimen of AL were tested in a group of 48 pregnant women and a control group of 48 non-pregnant women with uncomplicated falciparum malaria versus the standard 3 day regimen. The day 42 PCR corrected efficacy was 100% in both treatment arms. Pregnancy was associated with reduced exposure to both lumefantrine and dihydroartemisinin. The extended regimen improved the exposure to lumefantrine, artemether and DHA in pregnancy. The QTc duration remained normal, but transient hematological or biochemical changes were observed in both groups. Babies born from the women treated in the study displayed a normal physical and neurological development in the first 12 months of life. At delivery 38% of women had placental malaria. The extended AL regimen is a promising option for those areas with emerging artemisinin resistance.

Includes bibliographical references.
This research set out to shed light on the contradiction between the archaeological evidence pointing towards cultural continuity and the Luba’s rejection of ancestral relationships with the human skeletal remains found in the Upemba Depression of Central Katanga, the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was done by assessing the biological variation of the human skeletal remains of the early inhabitants from the Upemba Depression in the southeast of the Katanga Province (DRC) by using metric and non-metric dental morphological traits. Dental analyses of these Iron Age people have revealed homogeneity between the sexes, time periods and sites in Central Katanga. This is in contrast with the oral history from the Luba, who believe that the Iron Age remains are of their enemies who came from the northeast. In support of the archaeology, the dental morphological results from the current research have confirmed that present-day Luba people can trace their origins in Central Katanga as far back as AD 700.The analysis of patterns of dental disease, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes as well as phytoliths demonstrate that the diets and behaviours varied amongst these Iron Age communities. This may have been related to differences in food preparation and hygiene.

With a particular focus on UN-Habitat's land dispute resolution programme in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this thesis analyses UN-Habitat engagement with contested legality in a peacebuilding context. UN-Habitat's on-going experiences in DRC, and the associated policy processes, are contributing to a significant evolution in their approaches to land disputes in situations of conflict, post-conflict and peacebuilding across Africa and beyond. The organisation's policy processes enable non-state actors, interests and legal systems (local, national and international) to shape the UN-Habitat programme in DRC. This thesis argues that, in order to have meaningful impact in the DRC, UN-Habitat need to seek legitimacy from numerous sources, and this in turn curtails the extent of their power to act. This is indicative of a shift in the approach of international organisations to the Rule of Law, which, in the case of the UN and World Bank for example, have typically been overly focused on the formal, state legal institutions and systems as the means to address the challenges of peacebuilding and post-conflict situations. Instead, the complex interaction, blending and mixing of multiple formal and informal legal orders gives rise to new forms of legal meaning and action described by Boaventura de Sousa Santos as 'legal hybrids'. This thesis identifies the emergence and characteristics of such a legal hybrid, 'UN-Habitat law'.

For the last 22 years, systematic rapes and punitive violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were utilized as weapons of war and a control strategy. This quantitative study built upon the ecological model of impact of sexual assault on women's mental health to investigate the relationship between the health impacts and chronic pain and depression among women survivors of sexual rape in eastern DRC. The sample included 156 female rape survivors, between 18-80 years old, and raped between 2010 and 2014 while residing in the conflict area. The research questions focused on the association between fistulas, other sexual rape-related injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), feelings of worthlessness, social rejection, support from family/friends, and chronic pain and depression among women victims of sexual rape in eastern DRC. Results from multinomial logistic regression and ordinal regression tests showed strong links between independent and dependent variables: Fistula was strongly linked with chronic illness over 6 months (p = 0.003), and with upset all the time (p = 0.033); PTSD was associated with chronic illness due to violent rapes (p = 0.004) and sadness (p = 0.000); feelings of worthlessness was related to prolonged illness over 6 months (p = 0.024) and feeling blue (p = 0.006); social rejection was linked to avoidance (p = 0.003); and support from family/friends was associated with prolonged illness over 6 months (p = 0.025) and lack of excitement (p = 0.011). The results of this study could assist health care providers in formulating response strategies for identifying public health priorities in conflict area, addressing health needs, and defining approaches for reducing war-related sexual violence, chronic pain, and depression among rape survivors.

The present research attempts to assess the likely revenue, trade and welfare implications of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study adopts a partial equilibrium model based on the World Integrated Trade Solution 2010 database and the Software for Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade (WITS-SMART) as the methodological approach. The findings of the research reveal that the COMESA FTA will be beneficial to the DRC in terms of an increase in exports of US$371.57 million and consumer welfare gain amounting to US$28.49 million. Moreover, The WITS-SMART simulation results indicate that around US$322.10 million of trade will be created in the DRC as a result of the COMESA FTA. Notwithstanding the fact that trade creation will have a positive effect on welfare, as the Congolese consumers would benefit from lower prices, some local industries in the DRC may be threaten of closure due to the lack of competitiveness. In addition, the simultation results show that the country will experience a huge fiscal revenue loss amounting to US$107.01 million due to the implementation of zero per cent tarrif rate on imports duty from the COMESA trading partners. Finally, the simultation results indicate that an equivalent value of US$49.47 million of trade will be diverted from more efficient and low cost non-member states to high cost suppliers from the COMESA region. In light of these results, the research recommends that the DRC’s government needs to come up with a strategic plan in order to protect the national industry that would be negatively affected by the trade-creation effect. In order to mitigate the expected revenue loss, the implementation of the COMESA FTA in the DRC should be accompanied by fiscal reforms to improve the tax-collection system from sales or value-added taxes (VAT) and domestic excise. Regarding the trade-diversion effect, the inefficient producers from the COMESA region could be displaced through building new capacities in short, medium and long term based on comparative advantage in order to address supply constraints in these sectors affected by trade diversion.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The African State is a product of colonialism. It did not emerge from the needs of African people; indeed, the very concept is foreign to traditional African notions of authority. When the colonial era came to a close, its institutions were turned over to local elites who were either too inexperienced or too out of touch with the people they supposedly represented to effectively govern and manage the newly independent states. The result was widespread and continual ethno-regional violence, coupled with the progressive disintegration of the state authority and civil society. When such conditions remain unchecked, they ultimately lead to what political analysts refer to as the collapse of the state. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, constitutes a recent example of this phenomenon. At present, approximately half of its territory is under foreign military occupation, with no fewer than six states involved, whether officially or unofficially: Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi intervening on the side of the rebels, and Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia supporting government forces (These states have since withdrawn their forces). To this number must be added a number of opposition groups from neighbouring states, including The Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), some elements from the all-Hutu militia wing of Burundi's Conseil national pour la démocratie (CND) and remnant Rwandan Hutu, the so-called Interhamwe, as well as Mai-Mai and FRF (les Forces républicaines fédéralistes, led by Muller Ruhim) factions who fight the presence of the Rwandan army in the DRC (neither of which could be described as pro-governmental). The DRC is a failed state. All structures of legitimate power and authority have disintegrated; political order and the rule of law have been suspended. As a result, the state is rendered impotent: it cannot seek the welfare of its citizens, provide health care and education, dispense justice or maintain existing infrastructure. Civil society lacks the ability to fill the vacuum, and tribal and ethnic conflicts have steadily intensified. The study analyses the reasons for state collapse in general and examines the immediate causes of the conflict in the DRC in particular, including the legacy of colonial rule, land shortages and ethnic rivalry. It attempts to show that the collapse of the state in the ORC resulted largely from the imposition of poorly adapted western-style political institutions on traditional African structures of authority. Against this background, the study shows that the poor performance of the Congolese government in terms of its ability to constitute a legitimate arena for political activity, to confer a national identity and to act as security guarantor for its population represent the broad causes of the failure of the ORC state. State collapse is a long-term degenerative process, marked by the loss of control over political and economic space. As neighbouring states encroached on the failing ORC, its legitimacy was gravely undermined through the direct involvement of these states in its political processes. Moreover, these neighbouring countries harbour dissident movements who seek to influence ORC politics from within the safety of their borders. The collapse of the ORC poses a grave threat to African, and indeed global, stability, compromising neighbouring states through the vast influx of refugees and stimulating the illegal arms trade. The extent of the crises compels the international community to intervene. The immediate priority should be the reconstruction of a legitimate state system within the limits of the present borders. This can only be made possible through the implementation of the Lusaka agreement, which offers the most hope for a solution through the restoration of legitimate government, the reassertion of Congolese sovereignty, the reconstruction of a disciplined and efficient military and the convocation of a body for inter-Congolese dialogue. The ORC has been characterised by gross mismanagement ever since its independence in 1960; it is of the utmost urgency that the crisis not be allowed to escalate further. The ORC state needs total reconstruction: a process that will be extremely complex and time consuming, aimed at reviving institutional mechanisms that will return legitimate power to the state and re-establish social trust. In order to achieve these goals, a forum of national reconciliation, where all the belligerents in the conflict must participate towards finding a solution, will have to be established. The first priority of such a body should be the creation of a strong democratic transitional government before any further reconstruction of the state can be attempted.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die staat in Afrika is 'n produk van kolonialisme. Post-koloniale Afrikastate was nie die natuurlike uitvloeisels van die behoeftes van Afrikane nie; inderdaad, selfs die konsep van 'n nasiestaat was vreemd binne die konteks van tradisionele, inheemse gesagstrukture. Die plaaslike elites, in wie se hande die koloniale instellings, en daarmee saam die staatsgesag, oorgegee is met die beëindiging van koloniale beheer, het nie oor die vaardighede beskik om effektiewe regering en beheer oor die nuut onafhanklike state uit te oefen nie; hulle was meestal onervare of uit voeling met die bevolkings oor wie hulle regeer het. Die gevolg was wydverspreide en voortslepende etniese en regionale geweld en die geleidelike verbrokkeling van staatsgesag en die burgerlike gemeenskap. Wanneer sulke omstandighede toegelaat word om hul loop te neem, lei dit onvermydelik tot die uiteindelike totale verbrokkeling van die staat. Die Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo (DRK) - die voormalige Zaïre - is 'n voorbeeld van hierdie verskynsel. Nagenoeg die helfte van die oppervlakte van dié land is tans onder offisiële of nie-offisiële buitelandse militêre besetting, met nie minder nie as ses state wat betrek is by die konflik: Rwanda, Oeganda en Burundi ondersteun die rebelle; Angola, Zimbabwe en Namibië (hierdie state het sedertdien hul magte ontrek) veg aan die kant van regeringsmagte. Afgesien van hierdie magte, is daar ook verskeie opposisiegroepe wat vanuit buurstate optree, insluitende UNITA vegters uit Angola, elemente van die uitsluitlik Hutu militêre vleuel van die Burundese Conseil national pour la démocratie (CND) en oorblyfsels van die Rwandese Hutus (die sogenaamde Interhamwe), asook Mai-Mai en FRF (les Farces républicaines fédéralistes, onder die aanvoering van Muller Ruhim) faksies. Laasgenoemde twee groepe veg teen die teenwoordigheid van die Rwandese weermag in die DRK; nie een van die twee kan as pro-regering beskryf word nie. Die DRK is 'n mislukte staat. Alle legitieme mag- en gesagstrukture het verbrokkel; politieke beheer en wetstoepassing is opgehef. Die gevolg is dat die staat onmagtig is om die welvaart van sy burgers te bevorder, gesondheidsdienste en opvoeding te verskaf, regspleging uit te voer of bestaande infrastruktuur in stand te hou. Die burgerlike gemeenskap beskik nie oor die vaardighede om in die gaping te tree nie, en stam- en etniese konflik neem steeds toe. Hierdie studie ondersoek die algemene redes vir staatsverval en die spesifieke oorsake van die krisis in die DRK, waaronder die koloniale invloed, grondkwessies en etniese konflik. Daar word gepoog om aan te toon dat die staatsverval binne die DRK grotendeels toe te skryf is aan die afdwing van ontoepaslike, Westerse politiese instellings op tradisionele, inheemse gesagstrukture. In die lig hiervan word daar verder aangevoer dat die swak vertoning van die Kongolese regering - die onvermoë om as legitieme politieke arena te dien, 'n nasionale identiteit aan staatsburgers te verleen en hulle veiligheid te verseker - die basiese oorsaak is van die mislukking van die staat in die DRK. Staatsverval is 'n geleidelike proses; 'n stelselmatige en langduringe aftakeling, gekenmerk deur die verlies aan beheer oor die politieke en ekonomiese sfere. Namate buurstate toenemend betrokke geraak het in die probleemgeteisterde DRK, is staatslegitimiteit verder ondermyn deur die direkte politieke inmenging van hierdie buurlande. Daarby huisves hierdie lande ook afvallige groepe wat poog om politieke invloed op die DRK van buite die landsgrense uit te oefen. Die verbrokkeling van die staat binne die DRK is 'n wesenlike bedreiging vir stabiliteit binne Afrika, maar ook op 'n internasionale skaal. Sy buurstate word bedreig deur grootskaalse vlugtelingbewegings en die voorslepende konflik stimuleer onwettige internasionale wapenhandel. Die omvang van die krisis noop die internasionale gemeenskap om in te gryp. Die onmiddellike prioriteit van sodanige ingryping behoort die rekonstruksie van 'n legitieme staatstelsel binne die bestaande landsgrense te wees; dit kan slegs bewerkstellig word deur die implementering van die Lusaka ooreenkoms. Hierdie ooreenkoms bied die meeste hoop vir 'n oplossing tot die krisis deur die daarstelling van 'n legitieme regering, die herbevestiging van Kongolese soewereiniteit, die rekonstruksie van 'n gedissiplineerde en effektiewe militêre mag en die skep van 'n nasionale versoeningsliggaam. Sedert sy onafhanklikwording in 1960, is die DRC gekenmerk deur ernstige wanadministrasie. Dit is van uiterste belang dat hierdie situasie nie toegelaat word om voort te duur en te vererger nie. Algehele rekonstruksie is nodig - 'n uiters komplekse en tydsame proses met die uiteindelike oogmerk om daardie institusionele meganismes wat 'n terugkeer tot legitieme mag en gesag en 'n herbevestiging van burgelike vertroue tot gevolg sal hê, te laat herleef. Ten einde hierdie doel te bereik, sal 'n nasionale versoeningsliggaam geskep moet word. Alle partye in die konflik behoort betrek te word in 'n poging om 'n oplossing te vind. Hierdie liggaam sal 'n sterk, verteenwoordigende oorgangsregering daar moet stel voordat enige verdere vordering met die rekonstruksie van die staat sal kan plaasvind.

This thesis seeks to respond to the on-going complaints from both African and western scholars that Africa is negatively represented in the western media. The findings showed that news stories, opinions and commentaries expressed throughout the coverage of the Congo, including editorials and letters and from pre-colonial to modern Congo, were written by western journalists and correspondents from the London Times and associated correspondents, while four other news agencies Agence France Press (AFP), Associated Press (AP), the Belgian news agency (Belga) and Reuters were the main sources for The Times newspaper. News makers in Pre-Colonial and Colonial periods were almost exclusively westerners and references to the Congolese people appeared in generic terms. In Post-Colonial and Modern periods, Congolese people did appear by name but only in a limited capacity. The thesis also identifies differences between the coverage in each period, for example highlighting the critical engagement with the Congo that characterised the reporting of 1908. The Congo was represented over the periods sampled with negative stereotypes such a 'primitive', 'backward', 'barbaric, 'dangerous destination,' 'place for business,' 'natives to be civilised, evangelised and educated.' Recurring themes such as forced labour, civil war, corruption, child exploitation, poverty, refugees, witchcraft, dependency and mismanagement prevail in the reporting. The research investigated the changing representations of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the western media by examining its coverage in the London Times from a historical context that included four key historic years in the Congo's development, namely 1885, 1908, 1960 and 2006, referred to as the Pre-Colonial, Colonial, Post-Colonial and Modern Congo periods. The London Times, which used to be one of the leading western newspapers and the British newspaper of record, was selected. Content and discourse analysis were used to evaluate and categorise the news items published in the sampled periods to distinguish the emerging themes, to identify the sources, and to interpret the language used in the coverage. The findings have shown that since its inception to the modern period, the reporting of the Congo in The Times has avowedly been through western eyes, and, as with much journalism, has not offered any real context to the stories. The poor benighted heathens thus continue in their war-torn arbours.