Creating peace and security : the contribution of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region

Abstract: The Great Lakes Region of Africa has over the past two decades become an arena of militarized conflict, which can be traced to the genocide in Rwanda and the seemingly unending wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in this context that the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region was formed in 2003 under the auspices of the United Nations, the African Union and the Group of Friends. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region came into existence in 2006 when the Pact on Security, Stability, and Development in the Great Lakes Region was signed in Nairobi. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region has the daunting tasks of ending the conflict in the Great Lakes Region and of post-conflict reconstruction. This study examined the strengths and weaknesses of the conflict management approach of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region by using Regional Security Complex and Conflict Transformation theory. The dissertation argues that despite a regional and comprehensive approach to peace and security in the region conflict persists because of the malfunctioning of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region’s structures, lack of qualified and understaffed personnel, biases and lack of political consensus in implementing decisions.M.A. (Politics