Understanding the African union conflict prevention mechanisms constraints: “the case of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo”

Abstract

This study entitled “Understanding the African Union Conflict Prevention Mechanisms Constraints: “The case of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo” has the general objective of understanding the African Union conflict prevention mechanisms constraints in the special case of the Easterner. Specifically, the research intended to discourse on the constraints of the collecting and analyzing of the information related to preventing conflicts before they erupt in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo; and to also discourse on the constraints of the preventive diplomacy in preventing violent conflicts in Eastern DRC. The research design was that of qualitative research adopting the desk review for data collection. The findings showed that conflict prevention entails a systematic and interconnected methodology from gathering of information on the signs of an impending conflict to response strategy. The steps are so interdependent that a failure in one step undermines the success in all the others. For harnessing conflict early warning system in Eastern DRC, more efforts need to be put into helping policy makers and implementers to understand conflict history, context, nature, issues and dynamics. Early hybrid response mechanisms would be appropriate in this situation. It was found that before a conflict erupts; members of the local community know about it, the indicators of conflict are foreseen in the region. The displays of overt conflict in Eastern DRC are mainly repeated assaults and propagation of hate speeches and guns within the communities. There is no prescriptive or easy answer to when is the best time for preventative intervention. Knowing “how early is early” remains a constraint for stakeholders involved. Within what timeframe do you issue a warning is a constraint. The conversion of early warning into early response persists to be the main challenge of the AU conflict early warning systems on the continent. Difficulties in resource mobilization for anticipating violent conflicts usually slow down early action to be taken in order to prevent the eruption of violent and armed conflicts. Basically, the early response for prevention is hindered by the collection of necessary means for preventing an impending conflict, but again the persons with information about the early signs of a risk of a conflict are often accused of being alarmists and causing unnecessary uncertainty about the future.