Thesis advisor: Andrea Vicini / Thesis advisor: Kristin E. Heyer / It might be unusual to identify the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a country where expulsions put at flagrant risk thousands of small farmers to make way for economic projects or natural resources extraction, as is the case in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, India, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The lack of documentation and data greatly contributes to silencing the victims of dislocations in Eastern Congo. This research, therefore, voices six critical claims by raising the ethical question: how can Christian ethics—in the only African country with the greatest proportion (43.2 million) of baptized Catholics—humanize involuntary displacement and resettlement of communities? While the “resource curse theory” has revealed the challenges of a country riddled with economic constraints, political instability, and mining-induced conflicts, this research proposes the “protological ethics of land” as one approach to dislocations in the era of extractive industries. / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

Over recent decades, civil wars in Africa have taken millions of lives and caused widespread destruction of whole states and regions. The living standards of peoples residing in such states in Africa which have been devastated by war are often deplorable, with violence, disease and poverty characterising life there. Lawlessness is another feature of such wars, making these states optimal places for international terrorist groups to operate in, and from. For both the above reasons, the West should not turn a blind eye to this issue. These wars that have occurred in a number of African states, including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan, have often become regionalised with surrounding states increasingly becoming involved. This is particularly the case when economic gain can be sought through involvement in the civil war. The introduction of regional actors into domestic civil wars frequently serves to intensify and prolong the conflict, through an increase of arms and troops entering the fighting. The surrounding state actors largely claim to be involved for political reasons, namely to provide security to their own state. However, numerous credible reports have shown that vast plundering of natural resources has been carried out in war-time by surrounding states in the war-torn state. Consequently, this thesis examines the motives of surrounding state actors when deciding to participate in domestic civil wars of their neighbours. To do this, I compile case studies on both Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo since both states had been ravaged by violent and drawn-out civil wars involving regional actors. Furthermore, the regional actors in both cases (Liberia in Sierra Leone, and particularly Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe in the DRC) have been accused of participating in the wars for economic gain. The case studies showed that while political motivations largely drive the initial decision by regional actors to participate in civil wars in their region, it is subsequently economic gain that both allows and compels them to continue their involvement in the civil war. Henceforth, in the final chapter, I put investigate policy suggestions for the future including: prevention of resources being used to fuel warfare through controlling their access to legitimate channels; the use of aid to reduce the likelihood of those in poverty turning to war in pursuit of sustenance, including opportunities to target aid and use compliance with particular peace agreements as a prerequisite for attaining the funding; diversification of the economies of these weak states through development assistance to reduce risks produced by a high dependency on primary commodity exports for income and financial sanctions in the form of freezing of assets or asset blocking. These policy suggestions seek to address both the political and economic motivations of the surrounding state actors in participating in civil wars in Africa.

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.

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.

Virtually all African autocrats now govern with parliaments and organize regular, multiparty elections. They have little choice. Since the end of the Cold War, Western governments have required nominally democratic institutions in exchange for aid, investment, and debt relief. With violent repression impossible to conceal from the international community, life as an autocrat has grown more difficult. Since 1989, autocrats forced to govern with nominally democratic institutions have been 80% more likely to lose power than their counterparts. Between 1986 and 2000, the number of autocracies in Africa fell from 45 to 30. The rate of democratization has slowed, for Africa's autocrats learned to survive democratic institutions. To understand how, this dissertation focuses on the Republic of Congo, ruled by Denis Sassou Nguesso for all but five years since 1979. Using original data on the Congolese elite, their political parties, elections, and the security apparatus, this dissertation finds that Africa's autocrats confront challenges old and new with different constraints. Accordingly, they find different solutions. Whereas autocrats once relied on single parties to prevent elite coups, they now secure compliance with social tools. By redefining the pool of candidates for the regime's critical positions, Africa's autocrats employ a "politics of hope," which induces loyalty when elites are excluded from the regime. To monitor appointees, Africa's contemporary autocrats create social institutions, in which new recruits interact with trusted aides. Autocrats supplement these with parallel governments, which force elites separated by cleavages to compete against each other. When Africa's autocrats deploy these monitoring devices effectively, they forgo arbitrary purges in favor of tenure policies that reward competence. The international community's insistence on elections creates "focal moments," when citizens sense their shared discontent. Since they believe international attention will shield them from repression, opposition leaders mobilize unrest. This institutional landscape compels autocrats to fashion electoral alliances with opposition leaders. By joining the regime they once impugned, opposition leaders sacrifice public credibility for ministerial perquisites. Popular goodwill constitutes an insurance policy, and so Africa's autocrats commission surrogates to generate it. With repression less credible, autocrats construct their security apparatuses to threaten violence without provoking it. / Government

This thesis uses a case study of mountain gorilla conservation in Rwanda and the DRC to explore how diverse connections and disconnections influence idea circulation and disseminate different forms of inclusion and exclusion of particular people and groups. It is embedded within a theoretical framework that brings together three bodies of literature on non-governmental organisations (NGOs), transnational networks and ideational power to ask questions about network interactions and what they mean in terms of idea circulation. The thesis addresses three research questions: What do transnational networks look like on the ground; what do (dis)connections look like and what do they mean in terms of idea circulation, inclusion and exclusion; and (how) do transnational networks operate to include and circulate the ideas of more marginalised groups in society? This thesis presents results from a survey of the work of 281 conservation NGOs in sub-Saharan Africa, which maps out the institutional context of mountain gorilla conservation and raises questions about the interactions, equality and inclusiveness of the sector. Having identified mountain gorilla conservation as a suitable case study for this research, the thesis explores the political and environmental history of the Virungas, looking at how the two interact and influence (dis)connections. Using data gathered from semi-structured interviews, this thesis introduces the key actors, structures and processes involved in mountain gorilla conservation in Rwanda and the DRC and explores the connections between them. It shows how connections based on perceptions of expertise, staff movement and the professional and social circles people move in cause certain ideas to be respected and circulated, whilst other people and their ideas are ‘accidentally’ excluded. At the same time ‘strategic’ disconnections, which result from personal and organisational conflicts, can prevent idea circulation and lead to project duplication in some areas and a lack of projects in others. The thesis also examines NGO and state claims that ‘the idea (for interventions) came from the community’. It argues that, with exceptions, in a context of ‘sensitisation’ of communities to conservation and a complex political history, NGOs and states often define community ‘ideas’ themselves and do not typically have processes in place to foster local ideas, potentially excluding some of the more marginalised groups in society.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Political Science) in the Department of History at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2015 / Sub-Saharan Africa has been faced with an increase in levels of intra-state armed conflict since the last century. Intra-state conflicts have not only shown to be complex by their very nature, but have also shown numerous challenges in finding a solution that could be applied in an effective manner to bring about a guaranteed lasting solution. It is on this basis that interest and attention has been given to the transitional processes from conflict to peace. The conflict transformational process of two dissimilar countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of South Africa form a case study for understanding this quagmire. The transitional negotiations of the DRC from 2003–2006 and that of South Africa from 1991–1994 are the cases in point. The major issues for conflict resolution therefore includes understanding transitional negotiations as a vital process that can make or mar lasting peace in conflict prone areas. This research questions includes; Does citizen participation in transitional negotiations impact on sustainable peace in post- conflict societies? Given the vested interests and the often conflicting interests of various citizen groupings, does citizen participation create stability in the negotiation process for the purpose of creating a sustainable peace, or does it create a greater possibility of non-agreement and regression into conflict? Is it possible to obtain peace in countries that are complex political emergencies where elite interests are outweighing and civil liberties and interests are compromised? How do mediators overcome the problem of self-serving elites in transitional negotiations? Using the post-conflict DRC and South Africa as case studies and for comparative analysis, how can the differences in their outcomes be aggregated? This study is a mix of explanatory and exploratory research. Qualitative methods were used in the research. An expert sampling technique was adopted to conduct interviews in order to represent the different perspectives and theories of the outbreak of conflicts and violence. The principal theories that the study was based on are the Protracted Social Conflict Theory and the Transformative Cosmopolitan Theory. The study hypothetically argues that the paucity of or inclusion of citizens in transitional negotiations can either lead to sustainable peace in post-conflict societies or regress to a conflict stricken society. It also gauged the relations between the state and civil society organizations in working with citizens in order to avoid local conflicts that can interrupt negotiation processes. It expounds on the relationship between the interests of the political elites and the interests of the citizens. This study has determined that the lack of citizen participation in transitional negotiations does impact negatively on sustainable peace in post-conflict societies. In both case studies, it was shown that conflict has continued at the local level. The study has shown further that an inclusive approach to negotiations as well as peace building in post-conflict societies can be beneficial to the state, as there would be sustainable peace. Where mediators have been unable to balance the interests of the self- serving elites and needs of society, the failure has led to high intensity conflicts such as the local conflicts in the DRC becoming independent of the national level, thus making them difficult to resolve.

Yes / Sida requested the Helpdesk to present a ‘snapshot’ and analysis of the problem of conflict minerals in the Great Lakes region, and particularly of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In anticipation of instructions in the forthcoming country/results strategy for the DRC, Sida will use the report in order to identify possible Swedish efforts in the field. Sida requested that report should be presented with both a perspective on the Great Lakes region in general, as well as a more detailed analysis of the situation in DRC in a regional perspective.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a widespread international public health and human rights issue that disproportionately affects women and girls. In humanitarian crises all forms of GBV are exacerbated, and especially during conflict where GBV in some settings affects 70 per cent of women. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most complex and protracted humanitarian crises in the world, facing armed conflict and natural disasters with following massive population movements, as well as acute food insecurity, acute malnutrition, and epidemics. In this context, GBV remains pervasive and is identified as one of the main protection risks. The duty-bearer government affected by humanitarian crises and humanitarian actors with limited resources face the challenge of ensuring that GBV services are provided to respond to the needs of GBV survivors, as well as taking action to prevent GBV from occurring in the first place. According to international standards, one of the key strategies to prevent GBV from happening in the first place is through the economic, social, psychological, and political empowerment of women and girls. However, various conceptual frameworks for measuring empowerment are being adopted globally, posing obstacles for objective measurement, and understanding of what types of interventions contribute to women’s empowerment. Furthermore, the complexity of the concept of empowerment and its application in humanitarian settings is further exemplified through the fact that gender transformative interventions intended to contribute to the empowerment of women can have unintended negative consequences, sometimes leading to disempowerment of women. To this background, this paper seeks to critically analyse how interventions to prevent GBV implemented in DRC can be understood contributing to the individual empowerment of women according to the theoretical Empowerment Process Model. This will be done through analysing results deriving from an initial categorization of undertaken interventions presented in peer-reviewed articles, as well as synthesis of quantitative evidence of the impact of the interventions. The results showed that a wide variety of strategies to prevent GBV in DRC are taking place on different levels; individual, relationship, community, and societal. The limited available quantitative data showed evidence for reduction of GBV risks in all five evaluated interventions. The results also showed that different aspects of the Empowerment Process Model were incorporated in the interventions, addressing individual capabilities through contributing to increased self-efficacy, knowledge, and competence of women and girls, at the same time as addressing the social context to contribute to an environment in which women and girls’ empowerment processes are facilitated. This could be through aims to change social norms in the community, or address caregivers' attitudes towards adolescent girls. However, whether this actually supported the empowerment process depends on the personally defined goals by women and girls. The interventions and corresponding analysis revealed a fine line in which service provision may be disempowering or empowering. Service provision aligned with personally meaningful goals may be contributing to the empowerment of women, while misaligned goals may even lead to the opposite. The findings highlight that empowerment cannot be simply claimed to have taken place without considering the desires and goals of the individual women and girls that the interventions aim to serve.

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