“The concept of ‘Renaissance’ peacekeeping is thus dubbed because of its origins in a
proposal by Thabo Mbeki to the leaders of Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, on
modalities for ending the war in the DRC. It recognises a number of harsh realities in the
situation in this country which necessitate an unconventional approach to peacemaking, such as: the obvious inability of a UN peacekeeping force to guarantee the security of the extensive borders between the DRC and its nine neighbouring countries; the similar inability of such a force to effectively disarm the non-government forces and civilians in the DRC; the inability of the Kabila government to establish administrative control throughout the DRC at any time soon after the signing of a cease-fire; and the proliferation of non-statutory combat forces operating within and around the DRC, such as UNITA, former FAZ, former FAR and Interhamwe, the FDD, the RCD, the
Mai-Mai, the LRA,the Ninja’s and the Zulu’s.”
