The Democratic Republic of the Congo has suffered decades of armed conflict, rooted in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the First Congo War of 1996-1997 that toppled Mobutu Sese Seko, and the Second Congo War of 1998 that drew in several African states. Rebel groups including M23 and the Allied Democratic Forces continue to operate in the east, and the fighting has caused millions of deaths over the years.
The humanitarian toll is enormous. UNHCR reported that by the end of 2024, about 7.8 million people were internally displaced in the DRC, the highest figure on record, with most new displacement in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri.
Regional diplomacy has tried to address the crisis. The East African Community launched the Nairobi Process, and Angola led the Luanda Process, but progress has been limited by political tensions and the reluctance of some parties to engage. Rwanda has been accused of backing the M23 rebels, a charge Kigali denies. The UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO has been drawing down, while the Southern African Development Community deployed its own mission, SAMIDRC.
Conflict resolution in Kinshasa and the wider DRC will require disarmament of armed groups, stronger democratic institutions, and sustained regional cooperation. For comparison, see post-conflict nation building in South Sudan, Great Lakes conflict studies in Burundi, post-conflict reconstruction in Liberia, and post-conflict development studies in East Timor.
