Building human security in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Date
2010
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Abstract
Armed conflict in Ituri since 1996 to the present day has resulted in the widespread and
severe violation of human rights that include massive killings, rape, torture, mutilation
and property destruction that has infringed peace and security in the province. Many
studies on Ituri armed conflict point out land, minerals and identity as underlying causes
of this social breakdown that lead to continued insecurity in Ituri. While acknowledging
that there are many things that threaten the lives of individuals in times of war, this study
focuses exclusively on the perceptions of the people from Ituri about the meaning and
threats to peace and security as well as building human security in the province.
To investigate these perceptions, I use the concept of human security which is a new way
of thinking about peace and security. Although, this concept has a broad meaning, I
mostly focus on its components that promote the protection of civilians against severe
and widespread threats and as a people-centred approach, it advocates for the
responsibility to protect civilians by their governments and the international community
while the latter is given the full mandate by the UN, through its Security Council to
intervene in countries whereby, governments are the perpetrators of violence on its own
civilians or whereby governments are unable to contain violence perpetrated by warring
fractions on innocent civilians and causing the displacement of millions from their home.
I used a qualitative approach that sought to obtain as many as possible the views of
participants which in turn were described thoroughfully so as to obtain patterns and
themes that explain exactly what participants think is the meaning of peace and security
and what could be the possible threats that make them feel insecure. To reach my goal, I
used participant observation, focus group and semi-structured interview methods. 105
participants were selected randomly to participate in the research, that is, 94 in focus
groups and 11 in semi-structured interviews. An additional 31 participants were also
interviewed in Johannesburg to validate the data collected previously. Content analysis
was used to analyse data.
The study finds that there are various meanings to security and that threats to peace and
security depend on the kind of meanings that people from Ituri perceive to be the
meaning of security. The meaning of security depends on the context in which people
live. Both victims and perpetrators ‘should’ work towards the achievement of peace and
security. From the findings, it was concluded that the international community should not
play both arsonist and fireman roles, rather engaging honestly and sincerely in building
peace and security in the province of Ituri. This may lead to sustainable peace and
security in the province.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.
Keywords
Human security., International organization., Theses--Economics.