Regional and continental responses to the DRC election crisis

The DRC crisis shows how divergent positions among key stakeholders can lead to a non-response on contested elections.

The recent Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) elections are a useful measure of the willingness of continental and regional bodies to address contested election outcomes in Africa. They also show the extent to which international players are willing to use leverage to influence the behaviour of a government. Finally, the DRC election crisis demonstrates how divergent positions among regional and continental stakeholders can ultimately lead to a non-response.

About the author

Stephanie Wolters is a Senior Research Fellow based at ISS Pretoria. She joined the ISS in 2013 as head of the Peace and Security Research Programme in Pretoria. Before the ISS, Stephanie was DRC correspondent for the BBC, Reuters and The Economist. She later joined the UN Mission in the DRC as editor-in-chief of Radio Okapi. Stephanie has run media projects on Africa for the Mail & Guardian, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Stephanie has a Master’s degree in international relations and international economics from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Picture: Adapted from MONUSCO/John Bopengo