WASHINGTON, DC - October 24 - In Congressional testimony today, CARE called for a dramatically stepped-up U.S. role in ending longstanding conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. 

Click here to read CARE’s written Congressional testimony.

“Peace agreements and national elections are important signs of progress but not at all the end of the road,” Kevin Fitzcharles, CARE’s country director in Uganda, said in testimony to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs. “Security, protection and long-term, equitable development must be addressed if we are to see a lasting peace.”

CARE encourages the U.S. to support the extension of a robust UN Peacekeeping force in the DRC, known by the acronym MONUC, and to provide it with adequate resources, capacities and accountabilities to implement its mandate to protect civilians. Though stretched across a vast region, MONUC provides a critical security presence.

CARE also recommends that the U.S. continue and scale up its work in security sector reform of the DRC’s military (FARDC) – ensuring that they are adequately trained and paid.

In neighboring Uganda, the peace process to resolve the conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the government is inching forward, but needs consistent, high-level U.S. support to come to fruition. At the same time, escalating clashes between the Ugandan military and Karamoja cattle rustlers are causing further deterioration to regional security and must be addressed. This fighting is one of the reasons that nearly a million people remain in camps for internally displaced persons in northern Uganda. 

All of these actions will promote the rule of law and aid in countering the epidemic of sexual and gender-based violence across the region. This violence is a focus of CARE’s work in the Great Lakes. According to a CARE survey, even at this moment of relative peace in northern Uganda, fewer than 20 percent of rape cases are taken to the police because of a lack of a functioning judicial system. Many displaced women fear continued high levels of gender-based violence after resettlement.  In the eastern Congolese province of Maniema 70 percent of victims of sexual violence surveyed reported that they knew other women who had undergone similar experiences and 80 percent of these victims said that they had been gang-raped.

While much of the sexual violence in this area is perpetrated by combatants, CARE research also indicates that sexual violence committed by civilians is now on the rise.

“The idea that ‘being raped is normal’ has taken hold, and it will take much more than security to end this practice,” said Fitzcharles. “It’s critical for the U.S. to increase resources for dialogue on the social norms that contribute to sexual and gender-based violence.”

In addition, CARE calls for the U.S. to support the capacity and accountability of national governments to implement national laws and regional and international resolutions addressing women’s human rights.

Despite their role as one of the most vulnerable and conflict-affected groups, women have been overlooked in peace negotiations. It is vital to provide resources for peace and reconciliation initiatives in which women and other marginalized groups are adequately represented.

However, ending the instability, meeting immediate humanitarian needs and ensuring equitable participation is not enough to bring durable peace to the region.

“Sustainable peace and stability in the Great Lakes region calls for equitable development,” said Fitzcharles. “The U.S. must provide comprehensive, well-phased assistance for humanitarian and development needs in both countries… It must also urge both national governments to devote resources to long neglected areas in their countries—northern Uganda and eastern DRC.”

To date, U.S. foreign policy attention to both of these conflicts has been inconsistent at best.  U.S. policymakers have visited infrequently and many in the region are not convinced that the U.S. considers these crises priorities. CARE urges policymakers to change that perception by embarking on a sustained course of action.

“Securing peace is a process, not an event,” said Fitzcharles. “But the U.S. could speed up and solidify that process by using the full force of its diplomatic and foreign assistance resources.”

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