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In my diploma thesis I try for an objective evaluation and analysis of the history of the Democratic republic of the Congo since the year 1960, when the country gained its independence from Belgium, until the first years of the 21st century. The whole time period of 50 years of the existence of the country is divided into several intervals according to important events, which influenced the country's political development. Consequently one chapter of the thesis is devoted to each time period. In the conclusion of my thesis I try to evaluate the contemporary situation in the Democratic republic of the Congo and suggest solutions for the future.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Since a number of studies on textbooks in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have shown that textbooks hold a major place in education (De Guzman, 2000; Oakes & Saunders, 2004), this study proposes to investigate the content of an English Language Teaching (ELT)/ English as a Second Language (ESL) textbook used in 6th form secondary school (Grade 12) in the DRC, Go for English 1RE. It aims to identify and evaluate the content of this ELT textbook so as to deduce and derive main insights for the determination or not of its appropriateness and relevance in terms of its contribution to language use and literacy in the ELT/ESL curriculum of the DRC. The study draws its theoretical underpinning from two theories: the Cunningsworth’s textbook analysis theory and McDonough and Shaw evaluation theory. As research design, the study adopts an a descriptive, exploratory and interpretive design which draws on both quantitative and qualitative data collected on the basis of textbook evaluation checklist and semi-structured interviews. In regard to the procedural orientation, the study uses descriptive and content analysis to analyze, interpret and examine both interviews and textbook evaluation likert-scale checklist data. In respect of its data, the study uses ‘mixed methods approach’. Both qualitative and quantitative data come from 259 teacher and student participants on the basis of two different samples. The quantitative data comes from 209 student participants and 25 teacher participants and the qualitative data from 10 student participants and 15 teacher participants. The findings attest to the general content of "Go for English 1RE ELT" textbook in regard to language activities and tasks related to its subject matter, to the quality and nature of language it contains, and finally to the diversity in its subject matter and its cultural aspects, is suitable for language use and literacy skills development. However, even though its content is suitable, the findings also indicate that this ELT textbook is not well adapted to Congolese 6th form secondary school students’ level.

Fazendo uso da teoria da interseccionalidade, a presente pesquisa objetiva caracterizar, através da interpretação da narrativa construída pelo jornal Le Soir sobre a comunidade congolesa em Bruxelas, o imaginário belga acerca dos fluxos migratórios entre a atual República Democrática do Congo e a Bélgica contemporânea, durante o lapso temporal compreendido entre 1989 e 2000. Neste esforço, dentro do período estabelecido, foi possível identificar as levas migratórias de congoleses e sua relação com os diferentes contextos políticos e econômicos do país africano; ficaram visíveis, também, uma realidade de falta de interseccionalidade nas políticas públicas, de abusos, por parte das autoridades, de insuficiência, por parte das instituições, e de estranhamento e exotização, por parte do belga, de forma geral, ante a comunidade imigrante congolesa e também africana presente no país / Using the theory of intersectionality, the present research aims to characterize, through the interpretation of the narrative constructed by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir on the Congolese community in Brussels, the Belgian imaginary of the migratory flows between the now Democratic Republic of Congo and contemporary Belgium, during the temporal lapse between 1989 and 2000. In this effort, within the period established, it was possible to identify the Congolese migratory movements and their relation with the different political and economic contexts of the African country; also, became explicit a lack of intersectionality in public policies, abuses by the authorities, a institutional insufficiency on the part of the institutions, and a relation of estrangement and exoticization, in general, on the part of the Belgian, regarding the Congolese and the African immigrant community living in the country

Fazendo uso da teoria da interseccionalidade, a presente pesquisa objetiva caracterizar, através da interpretação da narrativa construída pelo jornal Le Soir sobre a comunidade congolesa em Bruxelas, o imaginário belga acerca dos fluxos migratórios entre a atual República Democrática do Congo e a Bélgica contemporânea, durante o lapso temporal compreendido entre 1989 e 2000. Neste esforço, dentro do período estabelecido, foi possível identificar as levas migratórias de congoleses e sua relação com os diferentes contextos políticos e econômicos do país africano; ficaram visíveis, também, uma realidade de falta de interseccionalidade nas políticas públicas, de abusos, por parte das autoridades, de insuficiência, por parte das instituições, e de estranhamento e exotização, por parte do belga, de forma geral, ante a comunidade imigrante congolesa e também africana presente no país / Using the theory of intersectionality, the present research aims to characterize, through the interpretation of the narrative constructed by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir on the Congolese community in Brussels, the Belgian imaginary of the migratory flows between the now Democratic Republic of Congo and contemporary Belgium, during the temporal lapse between 1989 and 2000. In this effort, within the period established, it was possible to identify the Congolese migratory movements and their relation with the different political and economic contexts of the African country; also, became explicit a lack of intersectionality in public policies, abuses by the authorities, a institutional insufficiency on the part of the institutions, and a relation of estrangement and exoticization, in general, on the part of the Belgian, regarding the Congolese and the African immigrant community living in the country

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been characterized by armed violence carried out against civilian populations. Despite a formal end to hostilities with outside states, numerous cease fire agreements and an internationally sanctioned disarmament program, Congolese civilians continue to be targeted in attacks. Research suggests that addressing the demand for Small Arms and Light Weapons as part of the broader disarmament process may decrease the proliferation of weapons and reduce armed violence. The research undertaken as part of this thesis attempted broadly to identify some of the factors contributing to the demand for small arms and light weapons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It suggests that insecurity, weak governance and regional politics, historical and cultural factors and socio economic factors significantly contribute to the demand for small arms and must be addressed in order to reduce armed violence. ?

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The economic dimension of conflicts has enjoyed increasing attention in research dealing with the dynamics of contemporary conflict. The nexus between natural resources, economics and conflict has played a defining role in a number of Africa’s most intractable conflicts during the 1990s and early 2000s. The underlying assumption of this study is that the economic dimension of conflict can be hugely informative in terms of an understanding as to why peace agreements fail and in that sense can contribute to the resolution of conflicts if taken into account during the formulation of peace agreements. This study explores the ways in which conflict theory has dealt with the conflict-economics nexus, analyzing the extent to which theory illuminates the conflict reality in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the period August 1998 to August 2004. It determines to what degree peace agreements in the DRC have taken the economic dimension and insights gained from the academic exploration of this topic into account during the negotiation and formulation of these agreements. In conclusion the study proposes a number of recommendations in terms of the peace process in the DRC with possible wider application for other peace agreements. / Dissertation (MA (International Relations))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

The aim of the work Failed States in International Relations is the examination of this phenomenon regarding the terminological discrepancy, causes of the state fragility, security and social aspects and the various attitudes from the side of the international communities. A special part is dealing with so called "successfully failed states" where despite the obvious non-functioning the state is able to survive due to the revenues from the natural resources. The ?ndings are represented on the case study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a country with huge potential but miserable performance by now.

This thesis elaborates on a complex, multilayered gender perspective of mineral exports in the conflict of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The focus lies on the Dodd-Frank Act and its implications for sexual gender-based violence, both conflict and non-conflict related, as well as socioeconomic dimensions. The in-depth analysis of these factors indicates, that after the initiation of the well-intended Act, the occurrence of sexual gender-based violence has increased and socioeconomic situation for women have worsened. Possible reasons can be found in the sole focus on Western narratives and the neglect of local perspectives.