A story of mutual adaptation? : the interaction between local and international peacebuilding actors in Ituri

This article shows in what ways the lack of cooperation between international and local peacebuilding actors can hamper the effectiveness of their programmes. In Ituri, a north-eastern district in the DR Congo, international peacebuilding actors mainly focused on statebuilding while local peacebuilding actors predominantly addressed issues of social cohabitation, such as reconciliation between ethnic communities and the resolution of land conflicts. Due to a lack of cooperation, however, these different priorities were often only partially coordinated. On their end, local peacebuilding actors adapted international statebuilding programmes to the local context during the implementation phase, but were not relevantly involved in strategy making. International peacebuilding actors, in turn, have only recently started to adapt their programmes to local priorities. However, if they do so, they often crowd out and duplicate the work of local peacebuilding actors, rather than cooperating with them by implementing complementary activities. This ultimately makes both local and international actors' programmes less effective.