In late January, an armed rebel group backed by Rwanda swept through the city of Goma on the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The humanitarian toll since then has been grim. In early June, Human Rights Watch reported that the group, M23, “has created a climate of fear … to solidify their control by whatever means necessary.”
But when reporter Sophie Neiman traveled to Goma in April for a series of stories featured in this week’s cover package, she found another mindset among its residents that even the rebels have had to acknowledge. “All over Congo today, people are expecting us to come because they want change,” M23 leader Corneille Nangaa told Sophie. “They want good governance. … They want development.” Uniformed militants patrol the city in armored cars, but they have also reopened schools and restored some water and electricity.
The assault by M23 is just the latest chapter in decadeslong instability and conflict in the mineral-rich region. But embedded in the desire among the city’s residents for effective, honest governance is an idea that has helped other societies find pathways out of cyclical violence. Sometimes, the perpetrators of violence can become builders of peace.
In the United States, for example, places like Richmond, California, and South Bronx, New York, have reduced gun violence dramatically by turning former gang members into “violence interrupters.” A similar concept has helped communities in the Sahel – the band of countries along the southern edge of the Sahara in Africa – make modest gains in dissolving violent extremism.
“Dialogue is no cure-all, but recognizing jihadists as political actors – not just enemies – reframes the choice: between fighting and talking, between managing defeat and imagining change,” wrote Laura Berlingozzi and Marta Cavallaro, two experts on security in Africa, in The New Humanitarian in May.
Many communities in Latin America have found that initiatives based on empathy for violent actors offer an alternative way to confront gang and cartel violence at a time when some governments are turning to mass incarceration. One church leader in El Salvador, for example, turned his kitchen into a bakery, offering former gang members a way back into society through work. “Reintegration is nothing more than giving an opportunity to someone who no one else wants to help,” Pastor Nelson Moz told the newspaper La Croix International in 2023.
The work of peace-building starts with incremental steps. Goma is a long way from being stable and peaceful. But the rebel leaders there, who mostly rule through fear, have at least noted a desire for good among the people.
This column first appeared in the June 16 issue of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly. Subscribe today to receive future issues of the Monitor Weekly magazine delivered to your home.
