Trump’s peace is not working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo  

Fighting between the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the M23 repeatedly leads to many injuries and deaths, as seen here in Goma on February 5, 2025. Keystone

The American president has declared peace but violence and greed still prevail in the resource-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The civilian population continues to pay the price for conflicting geopolitical interests. Despite the precarious security situation, Switzerland has stepped up its humanitarian aid. 

“Bombs are still falling, and we don’t know who is behind them,” Furaha Jumapili, who fled her home, told French television France 24 on December 5 – just one day after Rwanda and the DRC signed a peace agreement in Washington. 

The bombings have triggered a mass exodus. Tens of thousands of people have fled, many to neighbouring countries. These include Rwanda, as reported by local authorities in Kamaniola, a border town in the Walungu area of eastern DRC’s South Kivu province. 

Peace only on paper

This is one more chapter in a conflict between rebels and government troops that has been dragging on since 1998. In January 2025, the situation escalated again when the M23 rebel group seized control of Goma, the capital of North Kivu. According to the UN and several Western states, the movement is supported by Rwanda. 

Refugees carry their belongings after crossing the border from Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Gisenyi in Rwanda on 27 January 2025. Keystone

A few weeks later, Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, also fell under the control of the M23, with far-reaching consequences for the region and the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO. 

MONUSCO has struggled to fulfil its mandate to protect the civilian population and strengthen state institutions. In 2024, the UN Security Council decided to progressively phase out the mission.  

The withdrawal of UN troops is already under way. It could be postponed again, however, as stability in the DRC is still a distant prospect. 

The Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity, signed on December 4 under the auspices of the US and in the presence of Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Togo, are part of a long series of agreements that have failed to achieve their objectives. 

“I think it will be a great miracle,” President Donald Trump told journalists after the agreement was signed by Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s long-standing president, and Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi. The miracle is a long time coming. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Divvying up the vast mining pie  

The accords also include economic components and secure preferential access for the US to the region’s rare-earth minerals. Trump is not the only one interested in the DRC’s mining wealth, however. 

By far the largest buyer of these valuable minerals is China. The extraction of cobalt and copper, for battery production among other things, is accompanied by grave human rights violations. Illegal, uncontrolled mining is at the heart of the regional conflict: rebels occupy mines, appropriate resources and channel them into global supply chains.  

This also concerns Switzerland. “As the world’s largest commodity trading hub, Switzerland has a special responsibility to minimise risks in this sector,” Robert Bachmann from the Swiss NGO Public Eye told Swissinfo. “Unfortunately, there is a lack of transparency about the dealings of Swiss commodity traders and binding due diligence obligations.” 

Nothing works: no banks, no airports 

An estimated seven million people in the DRC have already been displaced by the violence surrounding mineral resources. The humanitarian situation is extremely precarious. In response, Switzerland allocated CHF3 million ($3.8 million) for relief aid in February 2025 and a further CHF2 million in May 2025. This support package goes mainly to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other partners on the ground.  

How is the civilian population faring? According to Sarah Kyabu Ntambwe, a peace and women’s rights activist known as Mama Sarah, the situation is different from previous crises. The M23 groups in the east of the country have set up a parallel government. “But nothing works, neither banks nor airports. People cannot access their money, travel normally or return home.”  

Sarah Kyabu Ntambwe worked with Switzerland during its 2024 presidency of the UN Security Council to amplify the voices of women and young people affected by conflict in the Great Lakes region. ONU

“The population is paying the price,” says Kyabu, whose organisation Change Your World is supported by the UN. The current peace process, which covers cooperation in the raw materials sector, ignores the civilian population, she says. Kyabu and her organisation are therefore trying to step up the pressure on decision-makers. The agreements should take into account the reality of vulnerable populations and protect human dignity and rights, she adds. 

“We are trying to shout loud and clear so that all those involved hear us and integrate our demands in the entire process.” To this end, Kyabu is gathering the voices of women and young people in the conflict region. 

An era of ‘predatory’ international politics 

“The peace commitments do not effectively address the regional dimension of the conflict, in particular the issue of access to resources and the responsibility of the political class,” is how Jean Bisimwa Balola sums up the situation. 

The Congolese national is a project manager for Swiss Church Aid in the DRC. From his office in Goma, one of his tasks is ensuring the safety of his staff. Three of his colleagues were murdered in February 2025. 

Jean Bisimwa in his office in Goma with colleagues. HEKS-EPER

“The value chains of strategic minerals are a crucial issue in warfare and governance, whether in the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi or Uganda, because they extend to much more powerful countries, which in my opinion are waging war in the production areas,” says Besimwa. 

He recalls the “deal of the century”, signed between the government of Joseph Kabila (2001-2019) and China in 2007. The agreement covered the mining of cobalt and copper in exchange for infrastructure investments. “Washington did not like the arrangement,” Besimwa says. Today, the US itself is interested in mineral agreements, he adds. 

“We are seeing politics today that are much more focused on economic interests, much more predatory, with no regard for human rights, the rules of war or international humanitarian law,” says Federico Riccio, head of the East Africa programme at Swiss Church Aid in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

At the same time, the DRC receives hardly any media attention. “In Europe, Africa is discussed almost exclusively in the context of migration, while the media focuses mainly on Ukraine and Gaza,” Riccio laments. 

Switzerland stayed

“We’ve got to live!” This is the cry that Bisimwa hears from his fellow citizens in his daily work. His organisation, like the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) office, therefore does everything it can to stay close to the population, despite the fragile security situation. 

“We work for the people. We work where the needs are greatest. That’s why Bukavu in eastern Congo is the right place to be, even if the area is now occupied,” Thomas Jenatsch, head of the SDC office in Bukavu, told Swissinfo. 

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In partnership with UNICEF, FAO and WFP, Switzerland has helped to strengthen nutrition services for children aged up to five years in the Minova regions. DEZA

The women’s media association AFEM is leading a project financed by Swiss development cooperation. DEZA

The SDC’s agricultural stimulus programme, launched in May 2025, showed its first results in North Kivu in August. The 2,500 beneficiary households started growing vegetables, thus enhancing their families’ food security and gradually generating income through the sale of surplus produce. DEZA

A model presents a design at “Made in Bukavu”, a fashion show promoting local dressmaking. Participants included graduates of the SDC’s PROMOST vocational training programme – implemented by Swisscontact – as well as established professionals. DEZA

The SDC and Swisscontact are providing 420 young people from the DRC with initial vocational training. DEZA

During his visit to Kinshasa on November 24, 2025, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis met with his DRC counterpart, Thérèse Wagner, and representatives of the UN and national and international NGOs. DEZA

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“Unlike many other organisations, we did not leave when the war broke out in January 2025. This meant we could respond quickly and effectively with humanitarian aid,” says Jenatsch. 

But is this commitment also appreciated? For Bisimwa, the presence of humanitarian aid in highly fragile areas goes beyond the practical. “It gives people hope, as it shows them that they have not been abandoned.” 

Edited by Marc Leutenegger. Adapted from German by Julia Bassam/ac