Congo Dreams: Hopes and prospects for the future

This event is in association with the Royal African Society and will be held at Conway Hall.

The recent fighting involving the M23 rebel group that has put eastern DR Congo back on the front pages has reached a fragile ceasefire. Despite this being the focus of international attention, a recent Oxfam report highlights that the M23 are just one amongst many groups of rebels that regularly attack civilians, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee.

In this special event in association with the Royal African Society, we will be looking at the implications of recent developments and the prospects for the current peace process. In a region so fractured and difficult to stabilise, we examine the structural problems and ask what could break the cycle of violence. Is it is time for a coordinated international approach to DR Congo?

This event is part of I Dream of Congo: Narratives from The Great Lakes, an exhibition which celebrates “the hope and optimism that pervades in the region despite years of war”.

Chaired by Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential.

The panel:

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka is an internationally renowned model, humanitarian activist and founder of the Georges Malaika Foundation, she was born in Lubumbashi, DR Congo.

Jean-Roger Kaseki, a human rights campaigner in the UK and DR Congo. He is a Labour councillor for Tollington Ward, Islington and a human rights and social justice research institute associate, at London Metropolitan University.

Kassim Kayira, journalist and commentator at BBC Africa.

Ben Shepherd, associate fellow of the Africa programme at Chatham House and former Great Lakes specialist at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

17% of ticket sales will go to Congo Connect which will distribute all proceeds raised during the exhibition to on-the-ground projects in eastern DRC, including Panzi Hospital, City of Joy and Women for Women International’s Bukavu programme.

Picture Credit: Marcus Bleasdale/VII