Situated at the heart of Africa, the DRC has been transformed into a battlefield where several African states and national armed movements are simultaneously fighting various wars. In order to achieve peace, security, and stability in the DRC, SADC intervened with the international collaboration of the UN and AU. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate SADC’s role in the DRC conflict resolution process from 1998 to 2003. A qualitative research method has been chosen and two theories, namely New Institutionalism theories and Rupesinghe’s model of conflict transformation were adopted. The research concludes that SADC military and diplomatic efforts to end the war have been positive. It is true that violence continues and peace remained fragile, but the conflict had ended. The weakness of the DRC government has allowed continued violence. As an organisation of states, SADC has not been able to do anything about this fragility. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

Situated at the heart of Africa, the DRC has been transformed into a battlefield where several African states and national armed movements are simultaneously fighting various wars. In order to achieve peace, security, and stability in the DRC, SADC intervened with the international collaboration of the UN and AU. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate SADC’s role in the DRC conflict resolution process from 1998 to 2003. A qualitative research method has been chosen and two theories, namely New Institutionalism theories and Rupesinghe’s model of conflict transformation were adopted. The research concludes that SADC military and diplomatic efforts to end the war have been positive. It is true that violence continues and peace remained fragile, but the conflict had ended. The weakness of the DRC government has allowed continued violence. As an organisation of states, SADC has not been able to do anything about this fragility. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)

Armed conflict and violence against civilians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has persisted for years starting in the 1990s. The Eastern, Western and North-Eastern parts of the country have seen the presence of a multiplicity of armed groups that have caused an escalation of the humanitarian crisis. The United Nations, in the interest of civilian protection, peacekeeping and security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a mission under The United Nations Organisational Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). In spite of this mission, civilians continued in the Congo to suffer attacks and to endure human rights abuses by the armed militants that are fighting government and the government forces in shape of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). This study examines the problematique of the mandate of MONUC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in light of the challenges that have made its success debatable. The success of MONUC has become debatable in light of the fact that in spite of its presence and implementation in the DRC, between 2007 and 2010, conflict and the violence against civilians escalated to unprecedented levels. This study examines the causalities of the failure and observes its effect while making propositions towards amelioration of the challenges and the failure of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. / Political Sciences / M.A. (International Politics)