Amani Labda, peace maybe. Joint evaluation of conflict prevention and peace building in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Without peace, no development. It is undoubtedly this simple constatation that
motivates donors to keep investing more in conflict prevention.  This is obviously
the case in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the protracted conflict in
eastern Congo puts a brake on the country’s revival.
  
Donors are leaving the trodden path of development co-operation to turn their  
efforts to disarmament, demobilization and re-integration of combatants, to the
security sector, as well as towards the rule of law and the protection of human
rights. But to what avail ? It is already a huge challenge to achieve development
results. Can donors then even hope to influence conflicts ?
  
This joint evaluation is an attempt to answer that question. The policy of six
bilateral donors and five multilateral organisations was scrutinised ; the major
drivers of conflict were identified and fifty interventions were evaluated in order
to find concrete proof that these drivers of conflict can indeed be influenced.
  
The result is a well-balanced report that does not claim to be the be-all and end-  
all of conflict prevention, but offers conclusions and recommendations for future
reflection. It can feed policy making in the field of intervention strategies for
peace building and conflict prevention in Eastern Congo.