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New peace agreements from Washington and Doha have brought hope for initiating a pathway to resolve the ongoing M23-conflict in DRC’s eastern territories in recent months. However, after the signing of the Declaration of Principles in Doha on 19 July, direct negotiations between the DRC and AFC/M23 were intended to result in a comprehensive peace agreement and were planned to begin no later than 8

New mediation efforts have been made throughout June to end the ongoing conflict between the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and pro-government forces in the North and South Kivu regions of eastern Congo. On June 27th, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, D.C., aimed at de-escalating tensions and fostering regional stability after years of conflict in easte

Despite the ongoing peace negotiations between the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese government in Doha (Qatar), and the signature of a declaration of principles between Rwanda and the DRC, under the patronage of the United States in Washington, D.C. in April, the evolution of the conflict in eastern DRC has shown no sign of abating. 

By the morning of January 29th, the rebels largely controlled the strategic city of Goma. To provide a quick and understandable explanation of the causes of this humanitarian crisis, the role of natural resources, and in particular minerals, is often overemphasized. While mining and mineral trade inevitably play an important role — being a vital part of the local economy — it is important to asses

In early 2024, IPIS, ASSODIP, and DIIS published a report on the stakes and motivations of the “March 23 Movement” (M23), a rebellion causing serious insecurity and humanitarian suffering in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The movement took up arms again in 2021, and it rapidly seized vast territories in the south-east of North Kivu province in 2022, with military support from the

Since 2021, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has once again fallen victim to the “March 23 Movement” (M23). Supposedly defeated in 2013, the M23 took up arms again in 2021, and by 2022 had rapidly seized vast territories in the south-east of North Kivu province.

While minerals have centered in research on conflict financing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, armed actors often rely on alternative sources of revenue to finance their struggles. Among these are the operation of roadblocks. In this report, produced together with ASSODIP and the Danish Institute for International Studies, IPIS studies the linkage between roadblocks and the local artisana

As part of the Madini project, a review of the current situation, trends and barriers in the production, trade and export of tin, tantalum, tungsten (3T) and gold from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was conducted by Levin Sources, with the aim to recommend concrete actions that can improve OECD-conformant sourcing of these minerals from eastern DRC. The link between the exploitation of

The Kufatilia platform (“to track” in Swahili) is an SMS based incident reporting and follow-up mechanism that has been launched in 2019 to increase transparency of minerals supply chains in Eastern DRC. Developed by IPIS in partnership with the Centre for Expertise on Mining Governance (CEGEMI) based in Bukavu, and powered by Ulula, Kufatilia is a tool for Congolese civil society organisations to

IPIS created maps of conflict minerals in eastern DRC, more particularly on Haut Uele, Ituri and North and South Kivu. These maps detail the type of minerals, the qualification of the mines, the mining titles and give an overview of armed presence in and around the mines. d Download the North Kivu map in full resolution   Download the South Kivu map in full resolution   Download the Haut

In a new report and webmap, IPIS presents its updated data on armed conflict and armed interference in eastern DRC’s artisanal mining sector. Building on extensive data, gathered over the last ten years, IPIS assesses the impact of responsible sourcing initiatives in DRC, designed to address armed interference in mineral supply chains. The report illustrates that responsible sourcing efforts have

This map show the location of roadblocks and artisanal mining sites in the Kivu provinces. It was made by combining data from our recent report on roadblocks in the area, and data from our recent update of our database and webmap on artisanal mining sites in eastern DRC.   Download the full image

Résumé français ci-dessous – French summary below IPIS launched a major update of it’s DRC webmap displaying data on more than 2400 artisanal mining sites in eastern DRC and more than 800 roadblocks. Since December 2016, IPIS teams have visited more than 500 artisanal mines in eastern DRC, gathering data that has been added to IPIS’ interactive webmap. IPIS also integrated other datasets gathered

A map of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in DRC, created as a result of two mapathons focussing on illegal activities in the park.

IPIS puts roadblocks on the map as key mechanism of conflict funding besides natural resources, revealing its devastating scope in funding armed actors in Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic Mapping over a thousand roadblocks,  IPIS shows the shocking extent of armed predation on trade routes in conflict-ridden Central Africa. Roadblocks, IPIS claims, have netted armed groups

Environment and natural resources can be key elements in starting and fueling conflicts. IPIS researcher Filip Hilgert contributed to an article in Geocarto International (2017, vol. 32, n° 10) on a multi-scale approach for an Earth observation based assessment of natural resource exploitation in conflict regions. Download the full article Elisabeth Schoepfer, Kristin Spröhnle, Olaf Kranz, Xavier

Printing maps of conflict minerals in Eastern DRC.

Burundi has seen a period of unrest following the failed coup d’état by a Burundian general in May 2015. In order to better understand the situation, IPIS drafted a new map entitled ‘Arms transport to Burundi’, which puts the 2015 unrest in the geographical perspective of the Great Lakes region and in the relevant timeframe covering 2008 to 2015. The map highlights two important factors in the rec

Le Kasaï Central et trois autres provinces voisines sont en proie à des violences mêlant miliciens, policiers et soldats et ayant fait, selon un rapport récent des Nations Unies, plus de 200 morts. Depuis septembre, un soulèvement des partisans du chef coutumier Kamwina Nsapu, tué en août par les forces de l’ordre après s’être rebellé contre les autorités congolaises, a embrasé la région. L’ONU a

  French version below – version française ci-dessous Roadblocks are a ubiquitous phenomenon in Eastern Congo. In an effort to map the scope of this phenomenon as well as its significance in the political economy of conflict, IPIS has embarked on a collaboration with the Danish Institute for International Studies. The point of departure is that control over the circulation of people and valua