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ABSTRACT
The youth is generally considered as the pillar of society. However, over the last many years, the views, power and potentials of the youth in the Great Lakes Region (GLR) have not been effectively harnessed in peacebuilding initiatives. Despite their ever-increasing numbers and influence at community level; young people are frequently overlooked in programmes for the prevention, response and transformation of conflicts. In extremely difficult conditions, some youth organizations are constructively contributing to promoting the culture of peace at community level. However, initiatives of these youth organizations are limited by the prevailing resistance to the emerging youth culture, inadequate institutional support, financial constraints and the failing post-war transition to peace. Based on a broader empirical study on the role of youth organizations in peacebuilding in the GLR; this article critically examines the lack of a smooth transition for young people from efforts at the local and non-governmental level to the national and governmental level in Burundi and DRC. It also describes a diversity of conceptualizations of ‘peace’ shaping the different approaches of youth organizations for peace. The article also examines the challenges affecting youth constructive participation in peacebuilding and suggests some reflections for effectively harnessing youth’s power and potential for building sustainable peace and reconciliation in the region.
Article category
This article falls within the category of Peacebuilding and conflict transformation.
Acknowledgments
The author acknowledges the invaluable contribution of Professor Arnim Langer, Director of the Centre for Research on Peace and Development (CRPD) KU Leuven University who accepted to proofread the manuscript before submission to the journal and Doctor Gudrun Østby, Senior Researcher at Peace Research Institute, Oslo, PRIO who read through the initial manuscript of this article and provided brilliant comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Because of this reason and given the other complex challenges affecting communities emerging from violent conflict (Maphosa Citation2013), peacebuilding initiatives in post-conflict eastern DRC as in Burundi are not achieving adequate results to restore positive peace all over the region.
2. For example, tensions have mounted as a result of contestation against the third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza in Burundi in 2015; the results of which had led to a failed coup d’état and extreme human rights abuse. Likewise, in the DRC, demonstrations and tensions against president Kabila’s attempt to go for an unconstitutional 3rd term in December 2016 lead to extreme human rights abuse including murder, wrongful arrests, torture, kidnapping, etc.
3. Energetic peace is all about harmony between human groups; moral interpretation of peace emphasizes justice as the key approach on promoting sustainable peace, modern understanding of peace calls for human security safety and stability around the world whilst postmodern peace theory emphasizes the relevance of truth(s) in sustainable peacebuilding and reconciliation.
4. Basic levels of youth centeredness that were observed in the study included adapting the wording and approaches of the study to the perspectives of the youth in general and to the perspectives of each category of youth in particular during the interviews and observing techniques of distress management such as they do no harm; signposting psychosocial support and power issues given the sensitive character of some sub-topics discussed by the participants.
5. See the Politique Nationale de la Jeunesse du Burundi (Citation1998) & Politique Nationale de la Jeunesse de la RDC (Citation2009)www.jeunescongo.e-monsite.com.
6. This is the case of the NGO PARCEM which was closed and whose activists were arrested in 2015 but found not guilty in 28 December 2018.
7. Filimbi is a Swahili word meaning ‘whistle’.
8. The last population census in DRC was conducted in the 1980s.
9. In fact, section 3.7 of the agreement literally states the following measures for the youth:
10. For example, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC is particularly shackled by the protracted armed conflicts in the Great lake region. Such conflicts have ravaged the country, involving regional dimensions, ethnic tensions, land disputes, and natural resource extraction (Auteserre Citation2010); yet the work of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) is not delivering the expected results, although it remains the world body’s most expensive peacekeeping mission (Costing an estimated USD 1.4 billion, MONUSCO is the largest peacekeeping operation in the history of the UN (Mabiala Citation2013)).
12. Costing an estimated USD 1.4 billion, MONUSCO is the largest peacekeeping operation in the history of the UN (Mabiala Citation2013).
13. National Congress for the Defence of Democracy-Force for the Defence of Democracy (the presidential political party in Burundi).
14. Imbonerakure is a frightening expression in the local Kirundi language, meaning ‘people who should be seen from far’; ‘not easy to be approached’. The Imbonerakure youth appear to be frightening and extremely harsh. Because of this reason, some analyst described the Imbonerakure Youth as a militia used by the leading political party to terrorize the opposition leaders and civil society activists who demonstrated against the third term of president Nkurunziza. In contrast to this, an Imbonerakure interviewed in Kanyosha, in Bujumbura city reported that they are rather ‘guards of social peace and security in their country’ and not really a militia.
15. Retried from a Sermon of Arcbishop Simon Ntamwana, the concept was used since March 2015 to describe everyone who contested the third term of president Nkurunziza. The concept literally means ‘I am not a slave’. It is worth mentioning that many of the protestors considered themselves to be neglected and reduced to slaves by the regime. See: http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/201609070978.html .
16. Jeunesse Démocratiques du Burundi (Burundi Democratic Youth).
17. Solidarité Jeunesse pour la Défence des Droits des Minorités.
18. The Burundi government has allowed the activities of Tutsi militia groups, Sans Echec (the infallible), Sans Defaite (the undefeated) and Sojedem (Solidarite´ Jeunesse pour la Defense des Droits des Minorite´s) which during the 1990s closed down urban areas in their ville morte (dead city) campaign, and created Hutu self-defence groups abajeunes or Guardiens de la Paix. The latter were composed of children who were often placed in the firing line. Human Rights Watch, Burundi: To Protect the People: The Government Sponsored ‘Self-defense’ Program in Burundi, 13 (7A), New York: Human Rights Watch, 2001.
19. The Mai-Mai (Swahili for ‘water-water’) originally formed in the DRC in the 1960s as part of the Mulelist Rebellion, when then–education minister Pierre Mulele organized youth into militias to revolt against Mobutu’s government. Mulele used traditional rituals to convince young men at community level that bullets would turn to water if shot at Mai-Mai fighters. In the 1993s, many of these local militias reorganized to protect their communities from Mobutu’s dictatorship and the influx of foreign armed militias after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Mai-Mai militias soon became a powerful force in the eastern region of DRC, with an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 soldiers fighting alongside the National army loyal to president L.D. Kabila in the 1996–97 against the foreign occupation. The Mai-Mai group is known for its strong rituals and adherence to magical beliefs. In the post-war periods, many former Mai-Mai militias have integrated the national Army (FARDC) whilst others remained in conducting sporadic attacks to local populations in some rural areas.
20. These challenges are described in the next section.
21. Each group de dialogue permanent is made of around 30 participants.
22. Most of the people regarded as allochthons in the DRC are the ones who allegedly came from neighbouring countries such as Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. Such people include the Barundi living in the Ruzizi land, the Banyamulenge and the Bahutu, all living in eastern DRC. These people are involved in conflicts with other ethnic groups of eastern DRC who consider them as intruders.
23. In fact, out of the 25 structures identified in this study, only two mainly developed a gender mainstreaming approach. For many other organizations, there was an increased disparity in the participation of the ladies and the boys in the different activities involving the youth, including workshops, seminars, communitarian works, social dialogues, sport, etc. According to the participants in this study, such disparities among the boys and the girls could be explained by the persisting culture of stigma and gendered roles at family and community level.