The United Nations (UN) in her peace-keeping and peace-building operations in Africa produces radio programs that it broadcasts to populations. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) operates Radio Okapi, a network that covers the entire country. This conference paper presents findings from a research project that examined the peace-building frames discernible in the Radio Okapi broadcasts to determine whether the UN through its radio advances a liberal peace-building agenda, set against alternative approaches proposed by other actors in the country and region.
A ‘concurrent nested’ mixed methods design was used to analyse the framing of the discourses in the broadcasts during three months of October to December 2019. The emergent frames were discussed during interviews with key actors in the country and the region to ascertain the extent to which the UN appreciates alternative Afrocentric approaches of peace-building in the country. Findings show that while alternative approaches of peace-building such as ‘restorative justice’, ‘solidarity’, ‘forgiveness’ and ‘healing’ are discernible in the broadcasts, the dominant framing favors the western-centric 'liberal peace-building’ agenda.
Keywords: DR Congo; Radio Okapi; peace-building; peace-journalism; liberal-peace; framing