Archieven: Publications

Memorandum by Fatal Transactions on the European Union’s contribution to natural resource management in Africa This Memorandum looks specifically at the European Commission’s contribution to a sustainable exploitation of natural resources in Africa and a sustainable supply chain. It also assesses its approach on conflict resources. The paper provides an analysis of the Commission’s trade policy, d

IPIS-MO. Congo beschikt over rijke reserves van erg gegeerde mineralen. Maar ondanks een florerende internationale markt plukt het land daar nauwelijks de vruchten van. Sinds het voorjaar van 2007 werkt Congo op verscheidene fronten tegelijk om die situatie te keren. Het onderhandelt met China over een ruil van Congolese grondstoffen voor Chinese investeringen in het (spoor-)wegennet. Verder overw

This report is the second in a series of updates following an initial report on conflict motives in the Congolese province of Katanga. It analyses the most important security developments from December 2007 until May 2008.   Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/mapping_conflict_motives-_katanga_u December 2007-May 2008 This report is the second in a se

IPIS, Antwerpen 25 maart 2006 – Op donderdag 20 maart maakte de Congolese regering het eindrapport publiek van de Commission de Revisitation des Contrats Miniers (CRCM). De publicatie was twee dagen eerder aangekondigd in een persmededeling van het ministerie van Mijnen. Een eerste fase is hiermee afgesloten. In een volgende fase zou de Congolese regering nu met tientallen privé-maatschappijen kun

IPIS, Antwerpen 25 maart 2006 – Op donderdag 20 maart maakte de Congolese regering het eindrapport publiek van de Commission de Revisitation des Contrats Miniers (CRCM). De publicatie was twee dagen eerder aangekondigd in een persmededeling van het ministerie van Mijnen. Een eerste fase is hiermee afgesloten. In een volgende fase zou de Congolese regering nu met tientallen privé-maatschappijen kun

The eastern DRC is still plagued by violent conflict. The centre of the conflict is the ‘Petit Nord’ region where two large armed groups, a coalition of smaller bands of armed men and the government army are all involved in a persisting battle causing enormous human suffering. In the neighbouring regions of the ‘Grand Nord’ and northern South-Kivu open warfare no longer takes place, but there is s

A SwedWatch/Diakonia/IPIS report. After a decade of war and political turmoil, the tide seems to be turning for the DR Congo. The country is now engaged in reconstructing a society that was destroyed by decades of dictatorship and a global power play. Activities are taking off in the mining sector as well. The DR Congo belongs to the category of resource rich countries, with a number of important

The United Nations, mainly through the UNSC and the UNGA, has played an important role in the genesis and development of the KPCS, an international control regime aimed at preventing conflict diamonds to enter into the legitimate trade. The earliest forerunner of the KPCS stems from an embargo imposed by the UNSC in June 1998 on unofficial diamonds from Angola. UNSC Resolution 1173 prohibited all

The International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a Belgium based research NGO, is a member of the Fatal Transactions consortium, which carries out the action ‘From Fatal to Fair Transactions’ with co-funding from the EU. IPIS’ contribution to this action is to develop a tool for the analysis of conflict drivers. Making use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software, we visualise possible

On November 29 and 30, 2007, a Consultative Group Meeting on the Democratic Republic of Congo took place at the World Bank’s offices in Paris. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/world_bank_and_drc

Revised version August 2007. ‘Mapping interests in conflict areas: Katanga’ reports on the presence of (ex-) combatants in the Congolese province of Katanga. It focuses on two broad categories: the ‘Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo’ (FARDC) and the Mayi-Mayi militias. There is no significant presence of other armed groups in the region. After the surrender of the warlord Gédéon

Eind deze maand loopt het mandaat van de VN-Expertengroep voor Congo af. De groep komt eerstdaags met haar eindrapport. IPIS, de International Peace Information Service in Antwerpen, kon het rapport al inkijken. Het rapport bevat een aantal specifieke gegevens die ook voor België relevant zijn. Zo is ons land de belangrijkste bestemming voor tin-erts vanuit Goma. Een bewoner van de gemeente Tessen

The All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region of Africa convened a meeting on December 6, 2006 to discuss the agenda for reform of the natural resource sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). One of the principle aims of the meeting was to contribute to the work of the United Nations Group of Experts by discussing suggestions for action raised in the course of their work so

Metalen en mineralen worden massaal ontgonnen. De mijnbouwindustrie uit het Noorden vaart er bijzonder goed bij, terwijl de exploitatie in het Zuiden vaak ten koste van lokale gemeenschappen gaat. Het Zuiden telt dan ook tal van mijnbouwconflicten en Peru, een traditioneel mijnbouwland, ontsnapt daar niet aan. De argumenten van de lokale gemeenschappen in Peru zijn als volgt samen te vatten: mijnb

This report deals specifically with the recent Ugandan involvement in the military, political and economic affairs of its giant western neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has contributed to a pattern of serious human rights abuses of the Congolese people. To corroborate evidence and gather additional information on Uganda’s involvement in the Congolese conflict the authors of t

Resource Extraction and Transparency, in: OPENSPACE Vol. 1, no. 4, Open society initiative for Southern Africa, June 2006. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/juli_2006_artikel_osisa

De bodem van de Democratische Republiek Congo (DRC) herbergt een fabelachtige schat aan natuurlijke rijkdommen. In de regio van Ituri vind je enorme goudafzettingen, de Kivus bevatten grote concentraties columbo-tantaliet (‘coltan’) en cassiteriet, diamant wordt gedolven in de Kasaï provincies, en doorheen het zuiden van Katanga loopt de Centraal- Afrikaanse ‘copper belt’ die respectievelijk 34 en

27/03/2006 PRESS RELEASE Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa – Fatal Transactions Fatal Transactions publishes DR Congo report – The State versus The People Fair distribution of DRC natural wealth undermined by poor administration and corruption in transitional government Three years of transitional government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has led to anything but stability and ec

Coltan and Congo: the implication of the private sector Coltan is a rare metal ore used for the production of capacitors and other high-tech applications. It is mined in several countries in Africa, Asia and the U.S. and later refined by a small number of processing companies in Germany, the U.S., Kazakhstan and the Far East (see frame: coltan, the black gold). For the high-tech industry, coltan p

This report provides a preliminary analysis into the conflict economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gradually, the scope of the war in DRC (1998-today) has shifted from political to economic motivations. Today, six states and many other rebel movements are fighting each other to gain control over Congo’s precious resources: diamonds, gold, coltan and others. Millions of Congolese have d