Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

DR Congo + 4 more

An agenda of reform: Trading for Peace - Achieving security and poverty reduction through trade in natural resources in the Great Lakes area

Attachments

1. Introduction

Trading for Peace (TfP) is a programme that aims to understand and promote the role of trade in peacebuilding and poverty reduction in the Great Lakes area, the region of Africa that covers Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia. Beginning in late 2006 with detailed grassroots research into the nature and role of trade in the region TfP, taken forward by donors and regional economic communities such as DFID, USAID and COMESA together with local and international partners such as Pole Institute and International Alert, has now evolved into a platform of cross-border cooperation which can initiate real change.

The research in and around the DRC found that, while trade in the country and the region is often fraudulent, it offers great potential for reducing poverty. In order to fully harness this potential, however, it is important that good governance is developed to protect and promote the growth of legitimate trade. A second phase of work from late 2007 to early 2009 therefore sought to build networks of traders and officials along both sides of the borders in eastern DRC and to start programmes of training, investment in equipment at border posts, discussions about trading reforms at the local level as well as research activities on a range of challenges of crossborder development.

The next phase of the programme will seek to build on this in order to turn our vision of trade as a pillar of peacebuilding and poverty reduction into reality. This will mean governments, officials, traders, the public and private sectors, research organisations, civil society and national, regional and local institutions working together across borders on a shared agenda: an agenda of reform, leading to easier and more equitable trading throughout the Great Lakes Region, creating an environment in which everyone has a stake in mutual cooperation with the aim of securing prosperity and building peace.

In a series of trade fora, each held in a different border area between the DRC and its eastern neighbours, stakeholders from both sides of the border discussed the following:

  • Financial institutions and money flows (Bujumbura, Burundi, 10-13 June 2008), organised by COMESA and Gradis
  • Trade, security and agriculture (Goma, DRC, 8-11 July 2008), organised by COMESA and the Pole Institute l Timber trade and livelihoods (Kasese, Uganda, 20-25 October 2008), organised by COMESA, the Kabarole Research Centre and the Bwera Information Centre
  • Problems of energy in the Great Lakes Region (Gisenyi, Rwanda, 27-28 January 2009), organised by DFID and the Pole Institute.

Trading for Peace commissioned thematic studies to inform these questions and to build a wider and deeper set of strategies which could then be discussed with practitioners in the respective fields at the thematic trade fora. From these events, some key learning points have emerged which can be used by policy-makers and investors in the region to help establish a flourishing trading environment.

The dynamism of the private sector has been clear to see at each forum. Business people and their associations appreciate the chance to discuss common problems and seek solutions together. The value of linking them up with COMESA and other regional bodies to work with the tools and instruments available to them and to work with governments to address these issues should not be underestimated. This kind of networking should also inspire the business community in the Great Lakes Region to mobilise its own considerable financial means.

The following sections spell out the main conclusions of the thematic studies and the discussions around them with cross-border stakeholders in this phase of Trading for Peace, allowing them through these discussions to develop strategic policy options and implementable reforms.

Full reports from the fora are available in a separate volume of Annexes.