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The recurring conflict in Eastern DRC has had devastating effects on civilians, mostly in Kivus. From the beginning of January 2002 till the end of May 2017, many conflict resolution efforts have been put together by regional and international communities. However, there has not been any sustainable mechanism to resolve the conflict. The situation regarding the security of Eastern Congo continues to be volatile. This paper seeks to identify the responsible party that would help mitigate the recurring conflict in Eastern Congo. Using the three distinct categories of actors in Conflict Transformation, the paper argues that the lack of coordination among these actors who constitutes the three Track levels have affected unity of purpose and the level of commitment as far as transforming the Eastern Congo Conflict. The divergent interests among the respective actors to outmaneuver one another when it comes to agenda setting regarding respective peace initiatives on conflict, could be the rationale behind the absence of a workable formula in transforming conflict in the Eastern DRC. The paper proffer strategic policy suggestions toward a workable Conflict Transformation mechanism that equitably addresses the root causes of the conflict and fairly incorporates the relevant stakeholders in an effort to find a sustainable solution.

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From the time it deployed in the eastern DRC in 2013 up to the first quarter of 2016, arguably no much tangible progress has been made by the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade (UN FIB). The security situation in eastern Congo continues to be unstable. This instability has serious direct security threats and spillover effects on respective neighbouring countries that are either part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) or the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). There are certain constraints that the FIB has continued to encounter in the context of regional and international political and strategic dynamics surrounding eastern Congo recurring conflict. This paper argues that one of the contributing factors behind the challenges encountered by the UN Force is the fact that both the ICGLR and the SADC efforts at enhancing peace enforcement in the eastern DRC have been overshadowed by the self-interests of international actors. Arguably, this scenario has impacted negatively on the ICGLR/SADC synchronised efforts towards the effectiveness of the FIB. The paper makes some recommendations on how best to attain sustainable synergy between the ICGLR and SADC in order to enhance the strategic and operational efficiency and the effectiveness of the UN FIB in the eastern Congo conflict.