Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013 / gm2015 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM / Unrestricted

Magister Legum - LLM

During the last decade reports of international personnel perpetrating acts of sexual exploitation and abuse against the very population in which they are mandated to protect are a disturbing outcome of some peace operations provided by the United Nations. Sexual exploitation and abuse have been a problem since the first peacekeeping operations in the beginning of 1990’s, however it was not until 2004 when the media reported disturbing acts of sexual abuse of children by French peacekeepers that the whole worlds eyes turned to these claims. This thesis will deal with a sensitive and relevant topic, sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeepers. The purpose of this research is to understand and explain why United Nations peacekeepers are involved in the horrors which they seek to address.

Magister Legum - LLM / This study investigates the the impact of armed conflict on child education in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Naturally, armed conflict affects negatively on people‟s life. In particular, armed conflict affects the education of children as military groups attack schools, schools children and teachers. Ultimately, armed conflicts also affect the quality of education children receive during hostilities. In light of this, the study assesses how the Congolese government, in line with international and regional human rights obligations, responds to the educational needs of children affected by armed conflict.

In considering how women navigate the complexity and gendered aspects of the artisanal mining industry, this study seeks to unpack women's labour at step one of the global supply chain of coltan, in the post-conflict context of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Female miners are largely excluded from mine work by blurry regulatory frameworks, gendered social norms and financial disparities, however they manage to remain active labourers in the artisanal mining industry. Within a broader socio-political context of poverty, political instability and rural livelihoods, women maintain access to mine work through strategies, often premised on a gendered solidarity, such as organizing into collectives, engaging in small group collaborations and employing creative ruses to maintain the secrecy of their labour. This thesis seeks to analyze women's exclusions from mine work and the subsequent strategies they employ to circumvent those exclusions and maintain work in the mines. Based on three months of ethnographic fieldwork at artisanal coltan mine sites in Masisi Territory in the province of North Kivu, this study employs ethnographic observations, focus group and interview methodologies.

The adoption and implementation of innovative IT tools and systems can be a driver for socio-economic development in developing countries. While developed countries are making advances, most developing countries are left behind due to several barriers.  In this study, we explore some of the challenges faced by various communal players in Uvira, a municipality in the Democratic Republic of Congo.       The observation method was used to capture the current situation and the contextual dimension of this region, which has major differences compared to the western / Swedish conditions in terms of infrastructure, organization, and socio-economy. Selection of interview respondents in the survey was based on theoretical selection where selected units had the most knowledge within the study area of the study. Analyzes of their responses identified the lack of an interoperable IT system between different co-dependency institutions, which makes the collaboration challenging. Cooperation between actors in the private and public sector such as banking, education, hospitals, and pharmacies is a limiting factor for rapid access and efficiency to the various services provided by these important actors.      The municipality faces major challenges, but if it succeeds in implementing digital solutions such as mobile banking systems, the effects can be very positive in the form of the municipality developing, the inhabitants coming out of poverty and cooperation and collaboration can lead to a more open and democratic.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country that has a violent and long history as a european colony and has since then been affected by recurrent interethnic conflicts between different armed groups. In these interethnic conflicts, armed actors have used sexual violence against women and girls as a weapon of war. Based on the social constructivism theory, this study aims to identify underlaying historical and colonial factors that could explain conflict- related sexual violence against women and girls in present interethnic conflicts in the country. The purpose is furthermore to explain why women and girls are subjected to conflict-related sexual violence to a great extent and why the sexual violence continues. The study concludes that social interactions between individuals and the social context where it occurs helps to explain conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls in present interethnic conflicts in the country. Sexual violence against women and girls can be explained as an instrument of power that has been used by armed actors to promote their own interests, which has been done in similar ways since the colonial era. Sexual violence against women and girls can also be explained as a social construction that has been created as a result of the power relationship that exists between men and women. Furthermore, sexual violence against women and girls still occurs to a great extent because it continues to be used as an instrument of power and because of armed groups perception about women and girls worth in the Congolese society.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Many refugees and asylum seekers have emigrated from The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has a long history of unrest and instability. Besides its own citizens, South Africa is a refugee receiving country. Its obligations to people seeking refuge within its borders are outlined in both, international and domestic law.

Instability and political repression are two reasons why many states in Africa are unable to develop. African regional organizations have the potential to encourage democracy, stability and development within their regions if they have the right tools. Using case studies of two major interventions by African regional organizations this thesis will determine what those tools may be. Both the intervention of ECOWAS into Liberia and the SADC into the DRC were rife with problems but they were able to bring some stability and even democracy to states in crisis. This thesis finds that African regional organizations can promote democracy and stability, but the focus is always on stability for the region. With strong institutions and mandates, policy agreement and strong leadership, African regional organizations can bring stability, development and even democracy to their regions.

Studies on immigrant women’s political incorporation in Canada suggest that they are less likely to participate politically than immigrant men and Canadian-born women. Many studies have examined the factors that contribute to their lower levels of political participation, yet the impacts of migration experiences have received less attention. To address this gap, this dissertation examines the political incorporation experiences of first-generation immigrant women from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Canada as a case study by employing a trajectory and life course approach to migration to analyze how gendered migration trajectories and experiences influence immigrant women’s political participation in Canada. I also employ La Barbera’s (2012) ‘intersectional-gender’ approach to examine how gender intersects with other social cleavages like race, ethnicity, class, and immigration status to affect immigrant women’s repertoires of political participation. Lastly, I examine how immigrant women may overcome the obstacles imposed by migration and the interlocking systems of oppression in Canada, particularly through the various ways they exercise political agency in the informal political sphere. I draw on life stories interviews with fifteen Congolese women residing in Canada’s metropolitan area of Ottawa-Gatineau. The findings reveal that participants’ migration trajectories to Canada are deeply gendered at the micro, meso, and macro levels, and while most participants felt politically incorporated in Canada, aspects of their gendered migration trajectories limited their participation in the formal political sphere. This includes barriers posed by migration projects, migration types, modes of entry, immigration status, migration experiences, and travelling gender norms from the DRC. However, these barriers generated opportunities for greater participation in the informal political sphere, such as advocacy through ethnocultural and religious groups, protests, school boards, professional networks, and petitions. Furthermore, the findings reveal that participants’ experiences of political marginalization and discrimination in both Canadian society and African immigrant communities, because of their identity as Black Congolese immigrant women, increased their proclivity to participate in informal political activities, as did their socioeconomic status as middle-class immigrant women. The findings make important empirical, analytical, and methodological contributions by providing an original framework for understanding the links between gendered migration trajectories and immigrant women’s political incorporation, enlightening broader understandings of political participation and challenging notions of immigrant women as apolitical, highlighting the understudied impacts of interlocking systems of power on political participation, and disproving the idea that political incorporation is a straightforward process of inclusion and a condition of social cohesiveness.