 March 2002
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Goma, Congo: A City at Risk Ben Wisner, professor at Oberlin College and the London School of Economics, is an advisor to AFSC's Material Assistance Program <bwisner@igc.org> A series of questions come to mind in the face of the damage to a large town in a volcanic eruption--in this case Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo The situation is all the more complicated and dangerous because of many years of conflict in this part of the Africa. Goma was not Pleasantville A principal question is suggested by the irony of Goethe's aphorism: "Staedliche Luft macht man frei." Does city air make people free in the case of Goma? Why is Goma where it is? What was its function in the days of Belgian colonialism? Under Mobutu? In 1994? Now? Is it a lifeboat for people in a sea of economic and security threats, or is it a death trap? Throughout history cities have served regions of towns, villages, and homesteads. They have had links with other cities of the same size and larger ones. They have been part of networks. Cities have had economic, administrative, military, and social functions. Goma has been such a city. Has it slowly ceased to be a city in any of those senses since 1994, as an economy of aid dependency, smuggling, and a mini "permanent arms economy" took hold? It used to be a major transportation hub for the region, at the center of road, lake, and air travel; it was a market for sugar, bananas, and cassava (manioc), and a center for many commercial and government services. Can it be such a city again? The fog of war? Volcanic ash of war? Another question concerns "disaster diplomacy" in the broad sense. This is a very unstable region where there are several armed groups dating from the terrible events in Rwanda in 1994 and also to the civil war within Mobutu's Zaire and, after his downfall, within the new Democratic Republic of Congo. The last war became internationalized as a number of African countries chose involvement on one side or the other. There is presently a cease-fire supervised by the United Nations. Will armed groups take advantage of this situation to do more than loot, possibly beginning hostilities again? Will people displaced by the volcano be in danger from armed gangs? The national government of the DRC has offered assistance which the rebels in control of Goma have so far refused. Is there an opportunity for peace-making or only posturing and business as usual? Some aid from the national government has arrived via a third party, namely the UN observers of the cease-fire. Another hopeful sign is the start of a 45-day "Inter-Congolese Dialogue" among 300 people drawn from government, rebel factions, tribal militia, opposition parties and civil society in Sun City, a resort city in South Africa. These talks are being facilitated by the former President of the southern African nation of Botswana. Who's in charge here? To what extent has this long history of war and instability undermined the effectiveness of local government, at municipal levels, such as that in the sizeable town (small city) of Goma (pop. 500,000)? Would greater municipal capacity have provided clearer, more timely, and credible warnings and instructions? The volcano Nyiragongo is very well known among volcano experts. It killed 2000 people in 1977, and it has been known to be active since 1994. Better the devil you know? A third cluster of questions surrounds the issue of risk communication. Why have the population movements see-sawed back and forth between Rwanda and Congo? Why don't displaced persons want to stay in the camps that have been established for them farther from the volcano, deeper in Rwanda? What efforts at risk communication have been undertaken? Is the reluctance of Goma's residents to resort to UN camps 20 km inside Rwanda the result of their first-hand experience of refugee camps for Rwandans who fled the genocide? Between 1994 and 1996 Goma's residents witnessed outbreaks of cholera and armed violence in those camps. Maybe their image of a 'refugee camp' is not a positive one! "Recovery" means what? What was the status quo ante? Is that to be the goal of recovery? What was municipal capacity before? What was scientific capacity? If the prior situation was, in itself, a human development disaster, what should the goal of recovery be? In the future there will be an ongoing volcano threat. (With the next heavy rain will there be mass movements of cement-like ash called lahar?) Are there more and less exposed sites in greater Goma? Have they been mapped? Will people be resettled there? How? Volcano and city planning experts and the DRC rebels agree that Goma should not be rebuilt where it is, but a distance away, on other, more seemingly stable slopes of Mt. Nyiragongo. However, history teaches that people are very reluctant to make such moves. There also in this case appears to be very little trust between the citizens and the rebel forces. Can the people be convinced to move? Will donors be found to come up with the cost of totally relocating a city of this size? The international community does not have a good record of following through on such commitments. For instance, three years after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in Central America, only 20% of the funds pledged had been delivered. In this context an interesting comparison presents itself. As one looks back a few years hence at the recovery process on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where the principal city was destroyed, and the recovery of Goma, how will the two compare? Politically, the UK government was not allowed to "forget" Montserrat. Might it be easier for the community of nations to "forget" Goma and move on to the next crisis or media scandal? Many cities "live with volcanoes." There are dozens of examples in the Caribbean, Central America, the Andes, Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan. Seattle sits within view of Mt. Rainer, and Quito is just below Pinchicha. Think of Hilo, Hawaii; San Salvador, El Salvador; Puebla, Mexico; or Kagoshima, Japan. What can they teach Goma? What are the preconditions for Goma's being able to institutionalize such lessons? A new kind of city? Does one perhaps need a new name for a new kind of city: isolated by disintegration of the national state administrative and economic network? Cities maintained by the economic activity of foreign relief agencies, militias, and peace keepers? Cities at risk to a wide variety of natural and technological hazards because of the deterioration of managerial capacity, economic viability, and deterioration of infrastructure? Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kandahar, Afghanistan. Baidoa, Somalia. Dili, East Timor). Huambo, Angola. Now Goma? RESOURCES
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AFSC has launched a relief drive to assist the thousands of homeless
and displaced persons in the Goma area, starting with $20,000
from its crisis fund for emergency relief efforts. Cash donations--which
will be funneled through Kigali Quakers in Rwanda and Caritas--should
be marked "Congo Relief," and mailed to: AFSC/Development,
1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102. To contribute via Visa
or MasterCard, call 1-888-588-2372, ext. 1. AFSC is not accepting
material contributions for the Congo at this time. 
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