RPAN

OCIPE’S PROJECT ‘RELATIONAL PEACE ADVOCACY NETWORK’ (RPAN)

One of the two main emphases of the work of OCIPE is to use its position in Brussels, and therefore its access to the institutions of the EU, in the service of the Jesuit apostolate of international social justice.

In this category, the highest single priority for the Society of Jesus is Africa. It is consistent with OCIPE’s mission, therefore, to maintain a project in relation to Africa. Our chosen project focuses on the issue of the immense natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the exploitation of those resources by transnational corporations. The reasons for this choice are clear:-

DRC has suffered the most destructive violence in the whole world since the Second World war: an estimated 5.4 million people died by violence in the civil war of 1996-2002.

A key to the DRC’s peaceful future development after the unprecedented democratic election of 2006 is its sustainable and equitable development – which in turn depends largely on the way in which its natural resources are managed.

DRC is a topic which engages the EU on a large scale. The EU is a key supporter of the world’s largest UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC) which comprises 17,000 troops. The EU has also poured in vast sums of money to assist the democratic transition of the country, to help build the capacity of its government, and to improve its administrative structures. However, this massive commitment will only bear fruit if the Congolese benefit justly from their own rich mineral deposits.

Because of the unique and sometimes terrible colonial history, Belgium is a country rich in knowledge and experience of the Congo, amongst its universities and NGOs. There is a large reserve of expertise for us to draw on, and so to serve our international partners. In turn we are a partner for these organisations, with our own international networks, not least in DRC itself.

Neither the EU nor the Belgian state has effectively helped to control or even monitor the activities of European corporations in the Congo. Many well-substantiated allegations have been made about illegal and unethical activities during the time of the civil war and the transitional government (2002-06). Present structures in respect of extra-territorial jurisdiction are seriously lacking in effectiveness; and present models of accountability in terms of corporate social responsibility are defective.

THEREFORE: the RPAN project works with partners in the Congo itself, in the USA and in Europe on two main axes:-

To challenge the de facto situation of impunity for the alleged past crimes of corporations, so as to offer justice to the Congolese people and to promote a different corporate culture in future

To work for the strengthening of the existing codes of corporate social responsibility, which are patchy and at best voluntary

Our main Congolese partner is engaged in civil society advocacy in respect of the Congolese Government’s current reevaluation of more than sixty of the biggest international mining contracts; our main partner in the USA is engaged in political advocacy at the State Department and at the US Congress about the practice of certain key US companies; RPAN’s own focus is on advocacy at the institutions of the EU, for example by means of the organisation of a formal hearing in the European Parliament.

The funding for this project has been secured from four European development agencies, plus one independent foundation.