The humanitarian and protracted crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most enduring and complex of the Great Lakes region, intertwining issues of governance, health and food security emergencies, insurgencies, natural resources issues and land conflicts.
Humanitarians and researchers (both academic and non-academic) have been working for decades to understand the causes and find holistic and multisectoral solutions to these problems. However, in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu, where most humanitarians are located, the limitations of the humanitarian and research sectors have become very clear as the impact and relevance of the multi-million-dollar humanitarian industry remains minimal at the same time as the applicability of academic studies is also being questioned. Both criticisms tie back to the weakness (or lack) of partnerships between humanitarians and researchers on the one hand and the difficult collaboration amongst Global North and Congolese practitioners and researchers on the other.
Authors
