Education cannot wait for DRC conflicts to end

Author: Simon J. Mone. PHOTO/COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Stopping the war rests exclusively on the shoulders of the EAC partner states.

The East African Community (EAC) welcomed the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to its membership a few months ago. With its natural gifts, shortcomings and political upheavals, DRC is officially a partner state of the EAC.

 This effectively tempts all the other states to feel a sense of ownership and belonging to what God buried underneath DR Congo.  Currently, DRC is facing conflicts, so we will have to deal with it. We have to help the newest country on the bloc to be peaceful and stable like the other partner States. If the many years of DRC conflicts had not dragged it back, it would have progressed fast given its Almighty blessing. However, it cannot achieve real growth because of this problem.  The country is facing one of the deadliest crises in the world, going on for many years. We are seeing episodes of fighting that have marred that country’s growth. The intercommunal tensions and battles have led to the displacements of hundreds of thousands of people. Displacement camps have been created, with makeshift facilities in compounds of schools, churches, hospitals and the open air, where the local people run to for their security and safety. So, displacements of people have caused insecurity, food shortage, and suffering.  The spill-over effects of the conflicts continue to reach neighbouring countries such as Uganda, where people have become vulnerable and lacking. People lack water and sanitation facilities, and the threat of disease outbreaks in displacement camps is ever present, including among host communities.  The affected children cannot go to school as education is very much backstage. Teachers have run away to avoid being taken by rebels. Students are abducted and recruited to participate in the conflicts. Their parents are arrested by rebels and taken to unknown locations. Education facilities are destroyed during the fighting by bombs thrown by the conflicting groups. We see humanitarian workers ambushed and their vehicles are attacked. The attacks indicate the extent of a problem that the EAC will be a part of for the foreseeable future.  For DR Congo to enjoy the peace and tranquility that the EAC partners enjoy, the immediate priority is to help them quickly resolve the madness that continues there. Otherwise, education cannot wait for them to end their conflicts.  The proper livelihoods of the communities were destroyed, and this cannot wait for the wars to stop. Social services and infrastructure have also been destroyed. The logistics and supply chains for the people have broken down with the constant attacks on humanitarian organisations.  It has forced civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations that had established offices in the country to support local people to close these offices and flee the country.  The constant upheavals in the country continue to discourage aid organisations from offering development aid to the most vulnerable local people that need these services the most.  So, the frustration of activities of NGOs is among the setbacks that the EAC faces. Therefore, the continuous show-downs in that country mean the community’s access to services will stop until there is peace. However, the size of the EAC now is good enough to cause an end to the conflicts.  Stopping the war rests exclusively on the shoulders of the EAC partner states and their diplomatic handling of talks – to end the barriers to peace of the people. Then we will benefit from the blessing of the DRC.  For now, the education of the boys and girls has been interrupted. Unless the battle ends, education, like all other services, will continue to suffer.


Stopping the war rests exclusively on the shoulders of the EAC partner states.


Mr Mone is a civil engineer