The concept of the African Standby Force needs to adapt to the modern realities of conflict.
Demonstrators in France wave a placard – which reads “M23 OUT” – in solidarity with victims of conflict in eastern DRC.
Photo by Elsa Biyick/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
For the vulnerable millions in eastern DRC, it is not enough that international courts exist.
Burundian military officers arrive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to tackle the rise of militias in the region.
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Rwanda shapes conflict in the region by using the Congolese Tutsi to centre its claims of a continued threat of genocide.
A person holds a candle at a night vigil during the 100-day commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
Young people have little desire to bring up their parents’ divisions, but older Rwandans remain fearful of a resurgence of tensions.
People carry some of their belongings as they flee clashes between M23 rebels and government forces near Sake on 7 February 2024.
Photo by Aubin Mukoni /AFP via Getty Images
Regional countries are embroiled in a geopolitical struggle over influence and survival.
People protest against the conflict in eastern DRC during an African Union assembly in Addis Ababa on 17 February 2024.
Amanuel Sileshi /AFP via Getty Images
Protests in Kinshasa are an indictment of the lack of attention to the Congolese crisis.
Kenyan soldiers from the East African Community Regional Force leave the Democratic Republic of Congo on 3 December 2023.
Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images
The international effort to address three decades of violence in eastern DRC has drawn in the UN, east African troops and now a southern African force.
DRC’s outgoing president Joseph Kabila (left) with his successor Felix Tshisekedi in January 2019.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Visiting Professor University of Buckingham, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs