ABSTRACT

The problems the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has faced with mining and conflict have roots in the colonial era and the sociopolitical difficulties the country has faced since its independence in 1960. On the eve of the DRC’s series of wars starting in 1996, the country had been mired for years in a failed democratization process, its economy was at its lowest, international financial institutions were pushing aggressively for privatization of the mining sector, and violence was exploding across the Great Lakes region. These factors conspired to create the current well-known problems the country faces with conflict and mineral resource extraction. To address the issue of conflicts being fueled by mineral resources, the Episcopal Conference of the Congo and the Jesuit Centre d’Etude Pour l’Action Sociale have responded with various measures regarding policy advocacy, monitoring, training, and research. This chapter analyzes this context and response.