International peacebuilding efforts in conflict-affected countries, including the DRC, typically prioritize top-down approaches. According to Séverine Autesserre—an expert on peacebuilding, humanitarian aid, and African politics—international peace organizations rarely tap into local knowledge and expertise or consider the voices of local communities.

For episode 2 of the APN (SSRC) Kujenga Amani podcast, we spoke with Séverine Autesserre, a professor of Political Science at Barnard College, about the overall impact of international peacebuilding efforts in the DRC, the difficulty of building peace from the top down and without input from the intended beneficiaries, and the potential for local peacebuilding efforts to transform conflict situations in the DRC and beyond.