Conflict in the Great Lakes Region : root causes, dynamics and effects

Abstract

While the name 'Great Lakes Region' was derived from the freshwater lakes and river basins within the central and eastern part of Africa, for the purposes of this article the Great Lakes Region is defined within the context of the regional entity known as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). In the ICGLR context, the area of focus is therefore the countries located in the east and central Africa - namely Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan, Kenya and Sudan. Thus, the Great Lakes Region constitutes a complex network of political and economic interactions with significant implications for peace, security and governance. It is also a region with interlinked conflicts and common fundamental problems that emanate from postcolonial challenges to state-building and nation-building.