The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues as one of the world's most prolonged and most intractable conflicts in human history. The problem being studied was that over 5 million Congolese individuals had been displaced because of the conflict, forcing them into repetitive cycles of poverty and militarization. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of members of the DRC diaspora on their various roles in the conflict resolution process in their home country. A secondary purpose was to identify barriers they perceived toward peacekeeping processes and how the DRC could overcome them when working toward conflict resolution. Being guided by migration theory and neoliberalism theory, the researcher collected data via semistructured interviews, asking each of the 10 participants the same open-ended questions. Themes were derived in alignment with a qualitative thematic analysis. Four themes emerged from the semi-structured interview dataset: (a) underperformance and advocation, (b) lack of unity and commitment, (c) communication and comfortability, and (d) working together. A further four themes emerged from the document review: (a) conflict, violence, and instability, (b) humanitarian crisis and internal displacement, (c) international and regional efforts, and (d) funding, resources, and long-term solutions. Study implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research were also discussed.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Judith McKay (Supervisor), Neil Katz (Advisor) & Dustin Berna (Advisor) |
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