Over the last two decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has witnessed an extraordinary number of attempts by regional and international actors to resolve the largest conflict that Africa has seen since independence. The conflict, however, persists, at an enormous cost. The most that these attempts have achieved are several partially respected ceasefire agreements and a few incomplete efforts at reforming Congolese institutions. They have failed to end the violence now focused on eastern DRC or to reestablish central government authority throughout the country. This brief provides an overview of the UN-AU relationship, focusing on each organization’s comparative advantages and highlighting areas for improvement. It further summarizes key lessons learned from AU-UN cooperation and regional interventions in the DRC over the past several years.
