| OBJECTIVES |
| By reinforcing UNILU’s research, teaching and outreach capacities, this project aims to address the governance and security challenges surrounding natural resources exploitation in the KCA. In the medium term, the project has the following specific objectives: (1) to strengthen UNILU’s capacity in the production of new knowledge on governance and security issues around natural resources exploitation, including mining; (2) to promote collaboration among researchers from various scientific backgrounds, thereby consolidating interdisciplinary and mixed-methods research; and (3) to foster the co-creation of knowledge with non-academic stakeholders, thereby promoting synergies between academia, the community, the public and private sectors. In the long term, the project will enable the establishment of an interdisciplinary research unit (Human and social science), a support structure for the Environmental Observatory (project 6), with competent academic, scientific, administrative and technical staff. Research and training within this unit will focus on governance of natural resources and security issues, with particular attention for the promotion and protection of gender equality (contributing to a better understanding, consideration and visibility of women in the governance of natural resources), and for economic and social human rights. This research unit will also serve as a framework for future doctoral research related to the theme and the strengthening of academic and professional capacities. It is in the same vein that the project intends to create an advanced master in Natural Resources Law. |
| CONTEXT |
| As explained in the context analysis, the development impact of the intensive exploitation of natural – and particularly mineral – resources has been limited. Even more, the DRC is frequently cited as a textbook example of the ‘resource curse’, where a country’s natural resource wealth has adverse effects on its economic, social and political well-being. This may occur as a result of economic factors (Dutch disease, absence of linkages), but also through political (corruption, mismanagement and lack of transparency, insufficient institutional capacity, lack of accountability) and conflict channels (minerals fueling the greed of armed groups or competition over land). At the local level, this manifests itself in severe governance deficits as well as conflicts. In the KCA, conflicts between multinational mining companies and surrounding communities are frequent. They occur over access to land, over the environmental consequences of industrial exploitation, or over the often violent repression of artisanal mining activities in and around industrial concessions. These often degenerate into serious human rights violations. In keeping with the resource curse theory, the Congolese mining sector has primarily gained international attention for its association with conflict. Most awareness has been raised around the so-called ‘conflict minerals’ from Eastern DRC, in response to which a series of due diligence and certification initiatives has been set up. In recent years, the scope – both content-wise and geographically – of these initiatives has broadened to include database (some issues with LSM have been overlooked, for instance) and labour exploitation (including female and child labour, forced labour which is against the law) in the mines, and to extend to other minerals like cobalt. Aside from these international initiatives, the Congolese government has also taken some actions to formalize ASM. It will be important to study how these (inter)national dynamics play out at the local level, as the current organization of ASM is mostly informal. At present, ASM operators lack the financial and material resources and technical expertise to improve occupational safety, environment, health and hygiene in the mines. We also need to pay particular attention to the vulnerable position of women, particularly who might choose to work in ASM mines to gain a more significant income, but who are vulnerable to gender-based violence, and are working in poorly remunerated jobs such as crushing, sorting, washing, sifting minerals and transportation of mineral bags (on the back or on the head). In short, the multiple problems surrounding the governance and security of KCA – whether industrial or artisanal – have their roots in the province’s particular history, as well as in some contemporary dynamics playing out at the national and international level. As the most important university in the region, UNILU has a crucial role to play in following up on these developments, and how they play out at the local level. At a programme level, UNILU should contribute towards improving the socio-ecological conditions of the populations living within the KCA. It is clear that governance and security considerations are central to all activities envisaged within the framework of this IUC programme. Indeed, better governance of the territorial entities and their biodiversity resources, but also the improvement of security conditions: (1) will promote better biodiversity and the quality of the benefits rendered to the population (Project 1); (2) will limit competition for space and improve health and environmental conditions in new areas through the enhancement of depolluted ecosystems, as well as develop governance principles adapted to their context (Project 2); and (3) will propose governance mechanisms for territorial entities and biodiversity resources that promote the emergence of entrepreneurship (Project 4) and agricultural activities (Project 5). The transfer of the results to the beneficiaries will be ensured in particular by the radio and television as well as community relays, while the UNILU-Society Interface will promote their valorization in the world of work within the KCA (project 6). |
| STRATEGY OF THE PROJECT |
| The project’s three strategic axes of intervention are the production of new knowledge (Axis 1), training (Axis 2) and service to society (Axis 3). Axis 1: The production of new knowledge. This axis aims to strengthen UNILU’s capacities in research on governance (at national, international and local levels) of natural resources and security issues around the mines (artisanal as well as industrial). Through this project 6 to 8 doctoral theses will be realized, on issues related to governance and security in the natural resources sector. Female candidates for the complementary master’s degree and then for the doctorate will be encouraged. IR1: The capacities of UNILU teachers-researchers in the domain of natural resources governance and security are strengthened and transferred to students and at least 6 doctoral theses are defended. Axis 2: Training. In order to make its results more sustainable in the long term, the project on governance and security proposes to create, within UNILU, a research unit in Governance of Natural Resources (GNR) which will be integrated into the Environmental |
| Observatory, for basic research and the continuing training of professionals in the private and public sectors, but also an advanced and inter-disciplinary master in Natural Resources Law. On the one hand, this advanced master aims to provide UNILU’s teacherresearchers with legal, criminological, sociological and technical skills for an in-depth analysis of socio-environmental problems linked to the exploitation of natural resources. On the other hand, it aims to initiate and promote the culture of interdisciplinary training in the field of security and governance of natural resources. For its operationalisation, it will use the skills of professors from the North and UNILU (faculties organizing training in humanities, life sciences and exact/applied sciences). It should be noted that the issue of security and governance of natural resources is addressed in a compartmentalised manner in the different humanities fields at the UNILU. Thus, this advanced master aims to pool or merge existing DEA programmes in the above-mentioned fields in order to fill this gap. IR2: The research unit and the advanced master in natural resource law programme are operational and integrated into the structures of UNILU. Axis 3: Service to society. The project will include all relevant stakeholders, including mining operators (large-scale as well as smallscale), but also affected communities and community organisations, such as women’s organizations and organisations for the protection and promotion of women’s rights within the KCA, in the co-production of knowledge. As such the stakeholders will be part of the research design, data collection, and data analysis through continuous discussion. External actors (public/private sector agents, non-governmental organisations, secondary school teachers, etc.) will benefit from in-service training organised by the research unit. IR3: The knowledge is co-produced and disseminated together with local stakeholders. |
| FINAL BENEFICIARIES |
| The final beneficiaries of the results of the project are (1) UNILU through capacity building of its academic and scientific staff and the establishment of the research unit in Governance of Natural Resources and the creation of an advanced master in Natural Resources Law for the benefit of graduates; (2) the communities living within the KCA through improved knowledge on their rights and obligations on issues of governance and environmental protection; improved relationships with mining operators, and improved working and living conditions in the mines, especially for women; (3) (mining) operators within the KCA through the respect of human rights through societal accountability and the appropriation of the principles of good governance; and (4) state services and NGOs through the appropriation of the principles of good governance and environmental protection. End-users may encounter structural challenges and obstacles: the limited involvement of traditional and political authorities, the lack of consistency of state agents participating in training, the low level of collaboration between stakeholders, the language barrier, and so on. UNILU will respond to these challenges thanks to its knowledge and understanding of the local context and its long tradition of collaboration with beneficiaries and end-users. The academic authorities of UNILU will support the structures strengthened by the project and ensure the sustainability of the improvements achieved. Thanks to the collaboration with UNILU, the political and traditional authorities will facilitate the work in the areas concerned and become involved in the production and dissemination of research results. Finally, a task force bringing together all the project stakeholders will be set up at the beginning of the project and will make sure, through a high-quality training of the community partners, to assist local communities to overcome the inertia linked to the application of governance principles adapted to the KCA context. |
