Effective Strategies for Addressing the Root Causes of Conflict and Instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo

As part of a bottom-up qualitative study, I sought to understand how non-elite Congolese people make sense of and cope with recurrent violence and displacement in the eastern DRC. Conducting semi-structured open-ended interviews with 12 adults (P1–P12), I collected 106 coded segments and applied Braun & Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis on Taguette. I identified six superordinate themes: (1) State Fragility & Governance Failures (28 segments), (2) Neo-Colonial Economic Exploitation (21 segments), (3) Pathways to Sustainable Peace (20 segments), (4) Foreign-Backed Armed Groups (18 segments), (5) Ethnic Divisions & Historical Grievances (12 segments), (6) International Responses & Their Effectiveness (7 segments). Participants described how kinship ties and mutual-aid cooperatives buffer everyday insecurities, how customary law compensates for the failures of state courts, and how elders, women’s groups, and youth councils mobilize collective action through ritual exchanges, joint ceremonies, and shared agricultural projects. By focusing on local knowledge and the psychosocial aspects of peacemaking, my study challenges top-down interventions and shows the need to better coordinate national and international policies with grassroots practices. In conclusion, I offer policy recommendations to recognize and resource local peace councils, integrate customary justice into official transitional justice mechanisms, support community-led economic cooperatives, and reform peacekeeping mandates to emphasize cultural humility and local ownership. My study adds a people-centered perspective to the peacebuilding literature and provides practical insights for policymakers, practitioners, and donors working in the DRC.