RESILIENCE &
FRAGILITY
IN ACTION

Since mass violence broke out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo thirty years ago, various theories have been put forward to explain the conflict and to find ways to stop it. Some have emphasized minerals; others have placed the onus on the weakness of Congolese state institutions or on meddling by its neighbors. This report serves as a summary of and intervention into this debate as conflict continues to escalate. We make two main points. First, we argue that more attention needs to be paid to restraint, focusing on places and moments when conflict has been ratcheted down, as well as on escalation. This leads us to our second point — that conflict cannot be explained by a single cause. Instead, escalation and restraint emerge from the interaction of political, economic, social, and historical factors. We argue that structural conditions — such as state weakness, unresolved land disputes, elite manipulation, and the legacy of past wars — shape how local triggers ignite into wider crises.

[Brief en français] This two-page brief provides an overview of the history of police reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It sheds light on the everyday experiences of reformed police officers and their interactions with the population, drawing out key lessons for reform practitioners and outlining avenues for reflection on the future of police reform in a context shaped by war and military occupation.

This two-page brief summarises the key points discussed during the ReFrACT Café, “Gender Backlash and Rising Authoritarianism in Fragile Contexts”, along with the main recommendations shared during the session. It captures collective insights and serves as a practical reference for anyone interested in the topics explored.

Gender backlash is a function and facilitator of authoritarian politics, emerging from and exacerbated by perceived or actual crises. Reflecting context-specific social and political dynamics, gender backlash takes a myriad of forms, from overt oppression of women and LGBTQIA+ communities, to strategic genderwashing and cooptation.