Abstract would not load on DSpace.

This study focuses on sexual violence in Goma and aims to study the significance of women, and perpetrators' mentality. To conduct this study, I have used a narrative method, and collected my data through several interviews and healthcare documents. The data consisted of narratives from rape survivors in Goma. This study has answered two research questions, RQ1: Do the women convey their stories in such a manner that gives indications of insignificance? RQ2: Could this mentality have existed before the First Congo War starting in 1996, and not only, as a consequence of the conflict? These questions are based on two hypotheses, H1: Women’s lives in Goma are seen as insignificant and H2: The mentality of seeing women as insignificant in Goma, existed before the First Congo War in 1996. Based on my data, I have concluded that these hypotheses have evidence to be true, with H1 having the most evidence. That said, there is still evidence that H2 is true, but I believe that further research is required to gather more detailed and reliable evidence. Previous research focused on the mentality during the conflict in Goma, and argued that this mentality emerged as a consequence of the conflict, whereas I have argued that the mentality existed before. The rapes in Goma are complex, and there is reason to believe that the topic is in a need of a study that will, at a fundamental level, analyse the lived lives of the women, and when a mentality that claims them not to have it, emerged. Therefore, the hypotheses and research questions were studied based on three main concepts: insignificance, lived life and mentality.

"Although the United Nations (UN) has often been pivotal in forging the international response to serious human rights crimes in such settings, the justice gap in countries such as the Democratic Republic [of] Congo (DRC) (the focus of this study) underscores the need for more systematic UN efforts. The war in the DRC has resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis with over 3.4 million displaced persons scattered throughout the country. An estimated 3.5 million people have died as a result of the war. The armed conflict has been characterised by appalling widespread and systematic human rights violations, including mass killings, ethnic cleansing, rape and the destruction of property. The most pressing need to be addressed is the question of justice and accountability for these human rights atrocities in order to achieve a durable peace in the country and also in the Great Lakes region (Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Angola and the DRC, to name just a few). In this respect, this study will address the grave human rights violations committed in the DRC and the mechanisms for dealing with them. It is particularly true in post-conflict situations where justice systems have been either partially or completely destroyed, that national courts are not capapble of arriving at a uniform stance, or willing to provide justice for atrocities in the immediate future. As a result, international justice seems to be a crucial and last resort that must continue to be fortified against efforts to undermine it. ... Chapter one will set out the content of the research, identify the problem and outline the methodology. Chapter two will discuss the state obligations in international law to prosecute gross violations of human rights and gives a summary of the human rights violations situation during the Congolese war. Chapter three will discuss the available naitonal mechanisms for accountaiblity in the DRC. It will discuss if national courts and TRC are able to deal with these atrocities committed in the DRC. Chapter four will analyse the extent to which the ICC could deal with the Congolese case and challenges. Chapter five will discuss the trends towards accountability in the DRC and the way forward. Chapter six will draw a conclusion on how to break the cycle of impunity in the DRC." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004. / Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Boukongou Jean Didier and Dr. Atangcho Akonumbo at the Catholic University of Central Africa, Yaounde, Cameroon / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"Whereas victims of ordinary crimes such as theft, robbery, assault or murder find it easier to obtain redress, victims of the most serious violatons such as war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity receive less attention insofar as their redress is concerned. Apart from some exceptional cases where victims of serious human rights abuses had their right to redress vindicated, there has not been an effective and comprehensive way of redressing victims of gross human rights violations. In Africa for instance, victims' redress in post-Apartheid South Africa and post-genocide Rwanda have been problematic. Thus, it is meaningful investigating how effectively the victims' right to reparation can be implemented in case of gross and systematic human rights violations. Preliminary to the above interrogation are questions such as: what are gross and systematic human rights violations? What are international standards regarding redress for the victims of such abuses? The case studies of Sierra Leone and the DRC will be closely analysed as an empirical foundation for these questions. ... This study consists of five chapters. Chapter one draws the context in which the study emerges. It provides the foundation and the structure of the dissertation. Chapter two outlines the legal framework that is relevant for answering the questions raised by this study. It explores international human rights standards regarding reparation of vicitms of gross and systematic violations. Chapter three analyses the implementation of victims' reparation in the context of Sierra Leone. It confronts Sierra Leonean responses to war victims with international standards on victims' reparation. Chapter four analyses victims' situation in the post-conflict Democratic Republic of Congo and draws lessons from the Sierra Leonean experience. Chapter five sums up findings of the study." -- Introduction. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Alejandro Lorite Escorihuela at the Department of Law, American University in Cairo, Egypt / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Women’s rights and female security is a growing concern in several conflicts around the world. In Congo, conflict-related violence has long been used as weapon and Congo has today become known as the “rape capital” beacuse of these war rapes. Further more, reports from South Sudan states that UN troops has ignored pleas for help by women being raped. United Nation Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 was implemented by the UN Security Council to combat conflict-related violence and add a gender perspective in UN Peacekeeping operations.  The aim of this thesis is to analyze the impact of UNSCR 1325 by comparing UN Peacekeeping operations’ mandates and actions before and after the resolution was implemented. The thesis will also analyse the UN’s action to eliminate conflict-based sexual violence and war rape. The peacekeeping operations that will be discussed are MINURSO (West Sahara) MONUSCO (Congo) and UNMISS (South Sudan). In order to do so, the theory of Female Security Studies [FSS] and Militarized Masculinity will be applied. In our thesis, the UN’s actions were found to be insufficient. The main factors resulting in this insufficiency was found to be the systematic failure to take the actions needed to implement UNSCR 1325, such as the increasing the number of female involvement in peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes. In large, the impact of UNSCR 1325 could have been bigger if the resolution had been implemented more efficiently. While the written changes were significant with the implementation of the resolution, these changes were not as visible among the actual actions taken in the peacekeeping operations in West Sahara, Congo and South Sudan.

Conflicts have been present in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for many decades. The demand for the country's natural resources in combination with unstable state power and the presence of armed groups are the reasons why sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has continued to petrify the local communities. It is used as a systematic weapon to terrorize, humiliate, and intimidate civilians and to destroy communities and families. The aim of this study is thus to investigate the conditions for reproduction of SGBV in DRC as well as its individual and structural consequences. The results of this literature study are analyzed based on the following theoretical approaches: doing gender, toxic masculinity and “the established and the outsiders”. The study, with an integrative approach, shows that there are numerous consequences both for the women and the society, including for example fistulas, gunshot wounds, death, anxiety, depression, rejection, and stigmatization. The results also show that the efficiency depends, among other things, on how culturally integrated the sexual violence is and that it is allowed to reproduce due to gender norms. The violence has unifying effects on members of the armed groups where hypermasculine characteristics are rewarded. Overall, it can be stated that the situation is complex and SGBV is a destructive element in the conflict. The violence is a consequence of prevailing structures while contributing to their maintenance. The study therefore contributes with knowledge about the driving factors behind sexual violence in war and shows the importance of gender norms in its reproduction. / I östra Demokratiska republiken Kongo (DRK) har konflikter varit närvarande i många decennier. Konflikten om landets naturresurser, i kombination med en instabil statsmakt och närvaron av beväpnade grupper är anledningen till att användandet av sexuellt våld fortsatt lamslå lokalsamhällen. Det används som ett systematiskt vapen för att terrorisera, förödmjuka och skrämma civila och för att splittra samhällen och familjer. Syftet med studien är att förstå och förklara vilka faktorer som reproducerar brukandet av sexuellt våld som ett vapen i krig samt dess individuella och strukturella konsekvenser. Detta görs genom en litteraturstudie och resultaten analyseras utifrån följande teoretiska begrepp: att göra kön, toxisk maskulinitet samt etablerade och outsiders. Litteraturstudien, som har ett integrativt förhållningssätt, visar att det finns många konsekvenser både för kvinnor och samhället: fistlar, skottskador, död, ångest, depression, exkludering och stigmatisering är några exempel. Resultaten visar också att effektiviteten bland annat beror på att det sexuella våldet är djupt rotat i kulturen i DRK och reproduceras av rådande könsnormer. Våldet har förenande effekter på medlemmar av de beväpnade grupperna där hypermaskulina egenskaper premieras. Sammantaget kan det konstateras att situationen är komplex och det sexuella våldet är ett mycket destruktivt inslag i konflikten. Våldet är en konsekvens av rådande strukturer samtidigt som det bidrar till upprätthållandet av dem. Studien bidrar därför med kunskap om de drivande faktorerna bakom sexuellt våld i krig samt visar på könsnormers betydelse för reproduktionen av det.

This thesis explores the Mbuti Pygmies, a sub-group of the Pygmy peoples, one of the main ethnic groups of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Mbuti Pygmies are settled mostly in the Ituri rainforest, and are, with regard to Christian mission, still unreached and unchurched. The oversight of the churches vis-à-vis these people is highlighted, through this thesis, as a challenge to Christian mission. This challenge is a result of the way Christian mission is understood and undertaken in DRC, namely in the selective and exclusive way of missioning, according to which some peoples are targeted and others forsaken. Churches in the DRC shy away from the Mbuti Pygmies probably because, on the one hand, these forest dwellers belong to the group of Pygmies whose existence as full human beings is enigmatic and very controversial. Because of the uniqueness of the Pygmy peoples in terms of physical features, culture, and way of life, on the other hand, the non-Pygmy peoples, including Christians, suffer from a kind of complex of superiority that creates in them a spirit of discrimination against the Mbuti Pygmies. As the Mbuti Pygmies are discriminated against even by Christians, it is very difficult for them to be taken into account within the mission agendas of the churches. This challenge to Christian mission is highlighted by two facts. Firstly, Christian mission is designed for all the nations to which the Mbuti Pygmies belong. Secondly, the churches, with their missional mandate to all the nations, shy away from the Mbuti Pygmies as if these people were outside the scope of Christian mission and, thus, unworthy of God’s grace and love.To remedy this challenge, with the aim of implementing Christian mission in the DRC, this study suggests a missional encounter as a way forward to addressing the Mbuti Pygmies. In practice, this may be implemented through the missionary conversion, the right perception of the Mbuti Pygmies as being fully made in the “image of God” and fully part of the “all nations”, promoting formal education among the Mbuti Pygmies, and sustaining the churches by an integrated theological education. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Text in Afrikaans with abstracts in Afrikaans, English and isiZulu / Hierdie studie van Afrikaanse tekste oor die Kongo (DRK) strek vanaf 1912 - toe DF Malan die eerste wit Afrikaner geword het wat ‘n reisbeskrywing oor sy besoek aan die Kongo gepubliseer het (Naar Congoland, 1913) - tot 2012 . Die navorsingsverslag ondersoek beeldvorming rondom die Kongo/(Midde-)Afrika in die korpus tekste wat opgespoor is, binne die breë teoretiese raamwerk van koloniale/postkoloniale studies, met toespitsing op “Africanism” en “Whiteness studies”. Daar is bevind dat beeldvorming in verband met die Kongo rondom twee hooftrope geskied: die Kongo as Conradiaanse “heart of darkness”, waar barbaarsheid in al sy geledinge hoogty vier; en die Kongo as “Eldorado” – die land wat as 15de-eeuse Afrika-koninkryk beskik het oor ‘n ontwikkelde beskawing en ongekende rykdom - lank voordat dit “ontdek” is deur Portugese seevaarders. Hierdie hooftrope en hul uitlopers funksioneer as ‘n kontinuum eerder as volstrekte teenoorgesteldes in die meeste Afrikaanse tekste oor die Kongo. Tekste van die koloniale era (tot die 1960’s in die Kongo) sluit aan by Eurosentriese diskoerse waarin die imperiale/koloniale tydgees weerspieël word, en tipies manifesteer in binêre opposisies (byvoorbeeld primitiwiteit versus beskawing) en trope soos “imperial eyes” (wit toeëiening van die koloniale ruimte). Malan se ideaal van ‘n Dietse invloedsfeer gebaseer op die taalverwantskap tussen Hollands/Afrikaans in Suid-Afrika, en Vlaams in die destydse Belgiese Kongo, herinner aan die ekspansionistiese ywer waarmee die Kaap-tot-Kaïro-droom van Britse imperialiste nagejaag is, maar blyk nouer verwant te wees aan die Afrikanernasionalistiese klem op die “taal as volk”. In postkoloniale tekste word die siening van die wit Afrikaner as ‘n nasaat van die geïdealiseerde Voortrekkers/Dorslandtrekkers toenemend gerelativeer deur tekste waarin die wit Afrikaner herverbeel word as “wit sangoma” of “Witboy in Afrika”; en wit vrese en vergrype word op skerp satiriese wyse aan die kaak gestel as die wrange erflating van die aartskolonialis, “Pappa in Afrika”. Die koloniale projek word in Equatoria as mislukking uitgebeeld, terwyl Horrelpoot ʼn distopiese verbastering van Afrikanerskap en Afrikaans in (Suid-)Afrika poneer. Witheid mag uiteindelik in Afrika uitgewis en vervang word met egte skakerings van aardsheid, of herdefinieer word in ʼn niehegemoniese verband (The Poisonwood Bible). Slegs die tyd sal leer. / This study of Afrikaans literary texts on the Congo (DRC) covers 100 years: 1912 – 2012. In 1912 DF Malan became the first white Afrikaner to travel to the Congo and publish a travelogue based on his travels (Naar Congoland, 1913). This thesis investigates the representation of the Congo/Central) Africa in the corpus of texts discovered, within the broad theoretical framework of colonial/postcolonial studies, and the paradigms of “Africanism” and “Whiteness Studies”. The Congo has been represented in terms of two main tropes: the Congo as the Conradian “heart of darkness”, the seat of utter savagery; and the Congo as “Eldorado” – the African kingdom that presided over a well-developed civilisation and untold wealth long before it was “discovered” by Portuguese explorers in the fifteenth century. These main tropes and their sub-tropes function in most Afrikaans texts on the Congo as a continuum and not in absolute contrast. Literary texts of the colonial era (up to the 1960’s) are characterised by Eurocentric discourses in which the imperial/colonial Zeitgeist typically manifests in binary oppositions (primitivism versus civilisation), and tropes like “imperial eyes” (white appropriation of colonial space). Malan’s dream of a Dutch sphere of influence - based on the affinity of Dutch/Flemish in the Congo with Dutch/Afrikaans in South Africa – and extending from Cape Town to the erstwhile Belgian Congo, is reminiscent of the expansionist fervour characterising the imperialist Cape-to-Cairo idea, but is based on the close link between language and nationhood in Afrikaner nationalism. In postcolonial texts the view of the white Afrikaner as ‘n descendant of the idealised Voortrekkers/Angolan trekkers is increasingly deconstructed by re-imagining the Afrikaner as a “white sangoma” or “whiteboy in Africa”, while white fright and guilt are revealed - in a sharply satirical fashion – as the bitter legacy of the white arch-colonialist “Pappa in Afrika”. The colonial project is portrayed as a disaster in Equatoria, while Horrelpoot poses a dystopic vision of the degeneration of Afrikanerdom and Afrikaans in (South) Africa. Whiteness may eventually be erased and replaced by authentic, earthy African colours, or be redefined within a non-hegemonic context (The Poisonwood Bible). Time alone will tell. / Lolu cwaningo olumayelana nemibhalo yesiBhunu ezincwadini zaseCongo (eDRC) lubheka isikhathi esingangeminyaka eyi-100: 1912 – 2012. Ngo-1912, uDF Malan waba yiBhunu lokuqala elimhlophe elaya eCongo laqopha umbiko omayelana nohambo lwakhe (Naar Congoland, 1913). Lo mbiko wocwaningo ucubungula indlela okwethulwa ngayo iCongo kanye nezinye izindawo eziMaphakathi Ne-Afrika eqoqweni lwemibhalo etholakale ohlakeni lwemibhalo eyimihlahlandlela emayelana nezifundo zangezikhathi zombuso wamakoloni/ nezikhathi zangemva kombuso wamakoloni, kanye nokuhleleka kwezifundo ngaBomdabu nangaBamhlophe. Izwe laseCongo lethulwa ngokufanekiswa ngezindlela ezimbili: ICongo njengesizinda sobumnyama (“heart of darkness”), nanjengesihlalo sobulwane bokungaphucuzeki (seat of utter savagery) njengoba kufanekisa umbhali uJoseph Conrad, kanti futhi ibuye ifanekiswe njengeCongo eyi-“Eldorado” – ubukhosi base-Afrika obabubusa endaweni ephucuzeke ngokuphelele nenothe ngendlela emangalisayo, ngaphambi kokuba itholwe ngabasingimazwe baMaputukezi ngekhuluminyaka leshumi-nanhlanu. Lokhu kufanekisa kanye nemifanekiso ehambisana nako evela emibhalweni eminingi engesiBhunu maqondana neCongo isetshenziswa ukuveza okubili okubonakala sengathi kuyefana yize kungafani kunoba ikuveze obala njengezinto ezingafani nhlobo. Imibhalo esezincwadini yangesikhathi sombuso wamakoloni (kuze kufinyelele esikhathini sangeminyaka ye-1960) iphawula kakhulu ngezindaba ezincike emasikweni nasemilandweni yamazwe aseYurophu nokuyilapho umoya wobukhosi obubusa ngaphezu kwamanye amakhosi/ nombuso wamakoloni uziveza njengokulindelekile ngezindlela ezimbili eziphikisanayo (ukubambelela endleleni yokwenza yasendulo kuqhathaniswa nempucuko), kanye nemifanekiso enjenge-“imperial eyes” (ukuzithathela kwabamhlophe umhlaba ezweni ababusa kulona okungelabanye abantu). Iphupho likaMalan lokuba kube nendawo eyenza ngokwemfundiso yamaDashi – okwakuncike ekuhlanganyeleni kwamaDashi/namaFlemishi eCongo kanye namaDashi/namaBhunu eNgingizimu Afrika – nokwakuzohamba kusuke eKapa kuze kufinyelele eCongo eyayaziwa ngokuthi yiBelgian Congo, kudala, ikhumbuzana uthando olukhulu lokwandisa indawo noma umnotho olwaluvela kumqondombono walabo abasekela umbuso wobukhosi bamazwe amaningi weCape-to-Cairo, kodwa-ke lokhu kwakuncike ekusondelaneni kolimi kanye nothando lobuzwe ebuzweni bamaBhunu. Emibhalweni yangemva kwesikhathi sombuso wamakoloni, ukuthathwa komuntu oyiBhunu elimhlophe njengoyisizukulwane saBafuduki (amaVoortrekker)/ saBafuduki base-Angola kuyaqhubeka nokuhlakazwa ngokudweba kabusha isithombe seBhunu emqondweni, liyi“sangoma esimhlophe” noma lingu“mfana omhlophe e-Afrika”, kodwa kube kugqama ukwesaba nokushawa ngunembeza – ngendlela ebhuqa kakhulu – njengegalelolifa elinganambitheki lomeseki wombuso wamakoloni oqavile u-“Papa in Afrika”. Umsebenzinhloso wezindaba eziphathelene nombuso wamakoloni uvezwa ngengowonakala wangaphumelela nhlobo ku-Equatoria, kanti uHorrelpoot yena uveza umbono wokuphela kobuBhunu kanye neSibhunu eNingizimu Afrika. Ubumhlophe bungagcina buphelile bese esikhundleni sako kungene imibala yoqobo ezothile esamvelo yomhlaba edabuka e-Afrika, kumbe buchazwe kabusha ngaphansi kwengqikithi engahambisani nokuphatha (The Poisonwood Bible). Sekobonakala phambili. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

This thesis explores the Mbuti Pygmies, a sub-group of the Pygmy peoples, one of the main ethnic groups of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Mbuti Pygmies are settled mostly in the Ituri rainforest, and are, with regard to Christian mission, still unreached and unchurched. The oversight of the churches vis-à-vis these people is highlighted, through this thesis, as a challenge to Christian mission. This challenge is a result of the way Christian mission is understood and undertaken in DRC, namely in the selective and exclusive way of missioning, according to which some peoples are targeted and others forsaken. Churches in the DRC shy away from the Mbuti Pygmies probably because, on the one hand, these forest dwellers belong to the group of Pygmies whose existence as full human beings is enigmatic and very controversial. Because of the uniqueness of the Pygmy peoples in terms of physical features, culture, and way of life, on the other hand, the non-Pygmy peoples, including Christians, suffer from a kind of complex of superiority that creates in them a spirit of discrimination against the Mbuti Pygmies. As the Mbuti Pygmies are discriminated against even by Christians, it is very difficult for them to be taken into account within the mission agendas of the churches. This challenge to Christian mission is highlighted by two facts. Firstly, Christian mission is designed for all the nations to which the Mbuti Pygmies belong. Secondly, the churches, with their missional mandate to all the nations, shy away from the Mbuti Pygmies as if these people were outside the scope of Christian mission and, thus, unworthy of God’s grace and love.To remedy this challenge, with the aim of implementing Christian mission in the DRC, this study suggests a missional encounter as a way forward to addressing the Mbuti Pygmies. In practice, this may be implemented through the missionary conversion, the right perception of the Mbuti Pygmies as being fully made in the “image of God” and fully part of the “all nations”, promoting formal education among the Mbuti Pygmies, and sustaining the churches by an integrated theological education. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

The African continent has been beset with violent conflicts, civil wars and extended periods of instability. The continent’s future depends on the capacity to prevent, manage and resolve conflict. Reacting to conflict has proven highly expensive for the international community and has strengthened the case for a greater focus on conflict prevention. This study will examine the role, relevance and success of preventive diplomacy in responding to and preventing violent and protracted conflicts in Africa, in particular recent international efforts to seek a concrete, comprehensive and all-inclusive peace settlement to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had resulted in what many analysts considered to be ‘Africa’s First World War’. The aim and objective of this study will be to assess the role of preventive diplomacy, in particular efforts by the international community to resolve the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study of the success of preventive diplomacy in responding to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo will cover three distinct phases. The first phase will assess the historical development of the crisis in the former Zaïre dating back from 1997 to 1998 and initial steps that were taken to address the conflict. The next phase will cover the period dating from 1999-2000 following the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, while the final phase will assess developments and efforts to secure peace by the international community from 2001 until 2004, while providing for a brief discussion on possible future developments. The research will commence by examining various theoretical contributions and insights produced on conflict prevention and the concept of preventive diplomacy. The examination of conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy will be rooted in theoretical insights produced by Michael Lund (1996) and other influential contributions on preventive diplomacy. The theoretical framework for this study will be based on Michael Lund’s model of preventive diplomacy. Although Lund’s conceptual framework provides a valuable insight into the theory of preventive diplomacy an additional theoretical consideration may be included into his assessment. Lund’s theoretical framework fails to address the impact of psychological variables and the extent to which prevailing conflict attitudes may exert a negative influence on a conflict situation. This may render the effectiveness of preventive diplomacy at the level of unstable peace obsolete if it fails to take prevailing conflict attitudes into account. This dissertation will also propose the inclusion of social-psychological approaches to augment the strategy of preventive diplomacy as developed by Lund. Very little conclusive and in-depth research has been conducted on how psychological variables, particularly conflict attitudes such as negative images, attitudes, perceptions and conflict behaviour can fuel and exacerbate a conflict situation, especially conflicts in Africa and how this may derail the success of preventive diplomacy in resolving such severe conflicts. In the numerous efforts to secure peace in the embattled Democratic Republic of the Congo scant consideration, evaluation and analysis has been produced on the way in which conflict attitudes such as misperception, fear, distrust, hostility and suspicion, became not only a major stumbling block to the peace process, but also negatively affected the outcome of the various peace agreements that were negotiated. One of the core arguments this dissertation will posit is that preventive diplomacy has not been successfully applied in resolving conflicts in Africa, and will continue to fail, unless greater emphasis is placed on structural prevention, that includes an assessment and strategy for responding to conflict attitudes, such as misperception, hostility, suspicion, fear and distrust. It could be argued that preventive diplomacy initiatives when taken alone and independently of a broader strategy of conflict prevention are likely to fail unless they are linked to measures and actions that tackle the deeper or structural causes of conflict. Greater emphasis should be placed on timely and adequate preventive action, through the vigorous promotion of preventive diplomacy, particularly structural prevention. The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is intermittently erupting and will continue to do so, unless the structural causes of the crisis and the various conflict attitudes are effectively dealt with. The study will commence with the theoretical and conceptual framework of the study, consisting of a discussion of conflict, preventive diplomacy, and conflict prevention. The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be discussed as well as the underlying factors that contributed towards the brutal and excessively violent nature the conflict came to assume. The study will also examine the international response to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as the immediate diplomatic efforts initiated to resolve the crisis from 1998-1999, which culminated in the signing of the Lusaka Cease-Fire Agreement on 10 July 1999. An assessment of the intervention efforts initiated by the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other key African states, in particular South Africa will also be undertaken. The impact of psychological variables and the importance of assessing the crucial contribution of social-psychological approaches towards understanding and resolving conflict will be briefly considered with particular reference to the protracted tensions which persisted between Rwanda and the DRC, despite the conclusion of numerous peace agreements between both countries. The final chapter will form an evaluation of the prospects for peace in the DRC beyond 2004 and will conclude the study with particular reference to the extent to which the research questions have been adequately addressed with final recommendations on the role of preventive diplomacy in addressing conflict. / Dissertation (MA (International Relations))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Political Sciences / unrestricted