North Kivu in 2002

The Second Congo War (1998–2003) was one of the deadliest conflicts in recent history, sometimes called Africa’s World War because it involved nine African nations and dozens of different armed groups across the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The war began in part as a spillover from the 1994 Rwandan genocide and deepened when foreign armies and rebel forces fought for power in the Congo. Despite official efforts to end the war, its impact on the eastern provinces, especially North Kivu, was profound and long-lasting. 

North Kivu, a province in the eastern DRC, was one of the hardest-hit regions in 2002. The fighting there was linked to both local ethnic tensions and regional rivalries, fueled by competition over land, influence, and valuable minerals such as coltan and gold. 

Although a series of peace negotiations took place in 2002, violence in North Kivu did not stop.

In 2002, the Lusaka Accord and the Luanda agreements laid out terms for foreign troops from Uganda and Rwanda to withdraw from Congolese soil and stop direct involvement in the war. 

In December 2002, representatives of the Congolese government and most major armed groups signed the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement, aiming to end the war and form a transitional government leading to elections. This helped bring an official end to the Second Congo War in 2003. However, the peace deal did not fully stop violence on the ground, especially in the east. 

Even as peace talks progressed, armed clashes and attacks on civilians continued across North Kivu in 2002.

Rival factions, including government forces, local militias, and rebel groups with links to Uganda and Rwanda, continued to fight for control of towns and resources. This often led to attacks on villages, looting, and the forced displacement of families.  By mid-2002, hundreds of thousands of people in North Kivu had already been forced to flee their homes because of insecurity and fighting. Many lived without reliable access to food, clean water, or shelter.  A peace agreement at the national level did not immediately translate into safety for ordinary people. Armed groups continued to operate, and civilians often bore the brunt of violence. 

North Kivu is home to many ethnic communities. Long-standing disputes over land, identity, and political power were worsened by the availability of weapons and the involvement of foreign forces.  After the Rwandan genocide, some militias composed of former Rwandan fighters—such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)- moved into eastern Congo, including North Kivu, intensifying conflict, even after 2002. 

Millions of people across the eastern DRC were displaced, with families repeatedly forced to flee their homes as fronts shifted and fighting flared.  Women, children, and the elderly often faced the worst consequences—limited access to food, healthcare, and secure shelter amid ongoing insecurity. Attacks by armed groups were a regular threat, with reports of killings, looting, and property destruction by militias, government forces, and foreign-backed factions. 

While peace agreements in 2002 and 2003 marked the end of the official Second Congo War, North Kivu did not experience a true end to conflict. After 2003, various armed groups continued fighting, and North Kivu became part of the long-term instability in eastern Congo that has lasted into the 2020s. 

The challenges that affected North Kivu in 2002 were armed group violence, competition for resources, weak governance, and ethnic divisions, which continued to fuel conflict in the years that followed. Large numbers of people stayed displaced or lived with the threat of renewed violence.

And the mortality rates by the International Rescue Committee found that the Crude Mortality Rate (CMR) in the eastern provinces was 3.5 deaths per 1000 population per month. And with the ongoing war between 1998 and 2007, an estimated 5.4 million excess deaths occurred nationwide.