This article briefly reviews UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions passed until 2019, examining their implementation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the challenges to establishing a gender-sensitive and sustainable peace in the region. The study is primarily based on desk research, supplemented by discussions held during a brief visit to Kinshasa in 2008 as part of a South African team involved in post-conflict reconstruction efforts. It argues that the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the DRC remains constrained by its failure to alter deeply entrenched gendered power relations. These power structures predated colonial rule and were further manipulated and reinforced under Belgian colonialism for strategic gains. Even after the end of colonialism, such gendered hierarchies have persisted and become internalised within Congolese society, shaping the attitudes of men and institutions alike.
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