GOVERNANCE AND SECURITY – Université de Lubumbashi

List of publications

Objectives: State the
objectives of the project. What do you want to realise through the project
(medium-term (5 year) objectives). To what long term objectives will the
project contribute (can be both internal and external to the university)

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.

Explain the link with the
context analysis, the programme objectives and the other projects. Detail the
context analysis if needed (e.g.
the specific theme,
specific challenges of the departments involved, the local/sectoral context,
etc.).

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).

Describe the strategy of
the project: how will it reach its objective(s)?

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.
Analysis of end-users / final beneficiaries: identify the end-users of the project results and describe the uptake strategy of the project (incl. structural barriers for end-users).
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.
Presentation of the project team: present the project team, the available expertise and the expertise sought for.
Proposed local project leader	Leader: Laurent Ngoy Ndjibu; Assistant: Gabin Bady Kabuya; Secretary: Josephine Kaunda Kitalu
Local project team (Other involved staff: professors, assistants, (administrative) collaborators, etc,). Also mention involved departments/ faculties/universities.	Were involved in the drafting: Faculty of Law:Laurent Ngoy Ndjibu, Grâce Tshoma, Pascal Kakudji; School of Criminology:Gabin Bady Kabuya; Faculty of Social, Political and Administrative Sciences:Olivier Kahola Tabu; Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences:Joseph Kasongo, Léon Michel Ilunga.
Overview of available domains of expertise in the project team	Economic analysis of law and governance; Criminal justice reform, sexual violence, corruption; Governance: company-community-state relations; Public and private security in the mining sector; Communication, mining governance and social responsibility; Mining and child protection; Gender and protection of women’s rights; Mining, environment and natural resource management; Peace and governance.
Comments on the expertise sought for at level of the Flemish HEIs	Development engineering; Gender and security (violence against women and sexual harassment), Actor-oriented approach (resistance of local actors), Rural development, Critical agrarian studies (land grabbing), Poverty and inequality, Political ecology, Ecological economics, Territorial decentralization; Multilingual communication (interpretation and translation); Development engineering; Gender and protection of women’s rights; Environmental law; Environmental criminology.