The Effectiveness of the African Union’s Peace & Security Council on Interventions in the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo: 2016 to 2022

Abstract

The effectiveness of the African Union Peace & Security interventions in addressing the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the conflict resolution mechanisms employed to deal with the DRC conflict, has not been adequately investigated. Several studies revealed that various the AU mechanisms in joint effort with international organizations namely the United Nations. With the study period of 2016 to 2022, the following were the objectives of the study; examines, in part, the genesis and root causes of the DRC Conflict, before setting out to analyze the AU’s approach to conflict resolution through its peace & security apparatus in the Congo between the period, including its peacekeeping missions and political interventions. Furthermore, the study assessed the efficacy of AU’s various initiatives in addressing the conflict and promoting sustainable peace in the region. This study was carried out in the offices of the African Union in Nairobi, Kenya, The Embassy of DRC in Nairobi, ministry of foreign affairs in Kenya who were involved in the pivotal Nairobi peace agreement. The study revealed that AU has initiated systems and architecture to deal with the crisis in the DRC, however implementation and ground efficacy brightly lacks from the organization more notably the African Union Peace and Security Council. It found that the profound limitations of AU’s interventions in the DRC is both historical and structural. More notable, is that diplomatic conferences are at the core of DRC conflict mitigation but no political good will from DRC government and politicians. AUPSC Africa Standby Force deployment of peacekeeping and peacebuilding military security strategies whose deployment only began in 2015 despite its ratification in 2001. The study recommended AU structural change of systems, increased support and allocation of resources to enable the AU to effectively address the conflict and promote sustainable peace and development in the region improve the AU’s capacity to address conflicts within the African continent. In addition, the study drew lessons from best practices of similar regional organizations namely the European Union being that the African Union, with a particular focus on the conflict of Bosnia & Herzegovina on organizational role and mobilization of resources and implementation of comprehensive approach strategies. By so doing, it identified key factors contributing to the effectiveness or limitations of the African Union’s efforts in comparison to other regional models like the dynamics of regional bloc conflict resolution mechanisms compounded with the internal governance structures of countries like the DRC.