Ambiguous agencies: coping and survival in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Providing empirical evidence of young people's experiences of survival and coping in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this article draws on elements of resilience theory and presents narratives offered by young people on how they survive and cope with violence and adversity. Exploring individual accounts of coping and survival, this article reveals how far removed international rights-based child protection approaches are from the actual lived realities of young people in eastern DRC. The aim of this article is to challenge child protection actors to deepen their understandings of the socio-economic adversity and structural violence in which young people live towards the development of more relevant interventions which might more effectively contribute to improved outcomes for young people living in contexts of protracted violence.