Sub-Saharan Africa

Opposition leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo are warning that the country faces civil war if the current president, Joseph Kabila, refuses to step down at the end of his term of office. That term was due to end this month but elections will not now be held until April 2018, and his opponents have accused him of trying to cling on to power. The DRC is not only a key source of minerals required in modern technology, it also has the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world. As tensions rise, can the negotiations overseen by the DRC’s Catholic bishops find a compromise?

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo - It began a little before midnight, a few whistles blown by people standing on dimly lit porches in Congo's sprawling riverside capital. By the turn of the hour, the protesters' ranks had swelled to several thousand, some of them rattling pots and pans in a brave act of civil disobedience as President Joseph Kabila's second - and what was supposed to be his final - mandate expired.

In the Congo, President Joseph Kabila has engineered artificial delays in the election process to extend his stay in power, and the opposition has called for massive protests on Dec. 19, when his mandate was supposed to end.

Research in Liberia and South Sudan will inform policy on how to improve peacebuilding in Africa and globally.