Integrating into the urban landscape, the
humanitarian sector has contributed to various processes of transformation in Goma. While creating new opportunities,
their presence has reinforced patterns of conflict and competition over the
urban political and socioeconomic space.
The border city of Goma, provincial capital of North Kivu in Eastern
D.R. Congo, is a clear example of a regional ‘NGOpole’: the city is housing
the logistic headquarters of close to 100 international humanitarian and
development organisations that operate in war affected zones around the city.
More than 15 years of state decline, violent conflict and massive human displacement have transformed Goma from a dormant town into a notable ‘siège de rébellion’ not only attracting rebel leaders, business executives, peacekeepers, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), but also a growing number of humanitarians. Their ever-increasing presence has become a significant factor in the recent shaping and reshaping of the city’s profile and its shift towards an attractive ‘zone of opportunity’.
But apart from creating opportunities, the concentration of international humanitarian organisations and their expatriate staff has also resulted in additional conflicts and contrasts. In a particular context of a weak institutional framework, informal urbanization and a highly contested economic, social and political urban arena, the international humanitarian presence has become a significant factor in reinforcing patterns of conflict and competition across the urban political and socioeconomic space.
The settling of vast numbers of international humanitarian agencies in urban centres, particularly during protracted humanitarian crises, has a considerable bearing on local socioeconomic realities and even contributes to processes of political and spatial urban transformation. The emergence of urban ‘NGOpoles’ in regions confronted by war, disasters or humanitarian crisis, has been mostly disregarded in academic humanitarian studies. Issues such as the spatial integration of the humanitarian sector or the impact of their presence on the local political economy, on local power and authority structures, on socioeconomic strategies of local inhabitants and on issues of redistribution and access to vital resources, largely remain unaddressed. Furthermore, the humanitarian sector itself seldom pays attention to these issues and is chiefly concerned with the effects of its programmes on the targeted area or community, thus seriously underestimating their indirect impact.
More than 15 years of state decline, violent conflict and massive human displacement have transformed Goma from a dormant town into a notable ‘siège de rébellion’ not only attracting rebel leaders, business executives, peacekeepers, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), but also a growing number of humanitarians. Their ever-increasing presence has become a significant factor in the recent shaping and reshaping of the city’s profile and its shift towards an attractive ‘zone of opportunity’.
But apart from creating opportunities, the concentration of international humanitarian organisations and their expatriate staff has also resulted in additional conflicts and contrasts. In a particular context of a weak institutional framework, informal urbanization and a highly contested economic, social and political urban arena, the international humanitarian presence has become a significant factor in reinforcing patterns of conflict and competition across the urban political and socioeconomic space.
The settling of vast numbers of international humanitarian agencies in urban centres, particularly during protracted humanitarian crises, has a considerable bearing on local socioeconomic realities and even contributes to processes of political and spatial urban transformation. The emergence of urban ‘NGOpoles’ in regions confronted by war, disasters or humanitarian crisis, has been mostly disregarded in academic humanitarian studies. Issues such as the spatial integration of the humanitarian sector or the impact of their presence on the local political economy, on local power and authority structures, on socioeconomic strategies of local inhabitants and on issues of redistribution and access to vital resources, largely remain unaddressed. Furthermore, the humanitarian sector itself seldom pays attention to these issues and is chiefly concerned with the effects of its programmes on the targeted area or community, thus seriously underestimating their indirect impact.
