What if the mineral destiny of the DRC was rewritten from the long ignored voices?
On 20 June 2025, the Centre Arrupe pour la Recherche et la Formation (CARF) organized an interdisciplinary symposium in Lubumbashi. « Mines, Environment and Society ». This intellectual festival will bring together some researchers, institutional leaders, mining actors and representatives of local communities around two main axes:
- The dynamics of relocation of populations affected by mining projects: despite the existence of ambitious legal standards (such as those provided for in the Mining Code), relocation processes are often marked by opacity, lack of effective consultation, and forms of sustainable marginalization. What is the value of legal texts if the realities on the ground contradict them?
- The stakes of the geostrategic agreements linked to the Lobito corridor and the DRC–USA agreement will be to identify the main beneficiaries of these large logistical infrastructures, to question the mechanisms of redistribution of extractive income, and to reflect on a governance capable of articulating economic attractiveness, national sovereignty and social justice. Who really benefits from the major bilateral agreements in our basement?
This symposium is an invitation to every citizen, researcher, community leader, member of a cooperative or political actor to sit at the same table and to rethink together the terms of mining justice. Numerous personalities will be present: university professors, lawyers, representatives of the Cadastre Minier, members of civil society, and community representatives.
Through this initiative led by CARF, it is a strong vision that emerges: to place the human at the heart of the debates on natural resources. Provide a space where technical expertise and community wisdom dialogue to jointly imagine a more ethical, fairer governance and contribute to a transformation of practices around mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
You are concerned. Because the future of the mining sector is also a matter of dignity, social peace, and collective sovereignty.
Rendezvous on Friday 20 June, from 8am to 5pm, at the CARF in Lubumbashi. Come listen. Come and debate. Come build.
Elie E. Bokele, Executive Assistant
Please confirm your attendance at the symposium scheduled for June 20, 2025.
It will be an honour and a pleasure to have you among us. Please welcome our distinguished greetings..
