Local Knowledges and International Peacebuilding Organizations: How the UN Acquires and Processes Local Knowledge

Since the end of the Cold War, security organizations (e.g. UN, NATO) have engaged in peacebuilding operations in various parts of the world. With objectives to transform conditions that result in conflict, their effectiveness is contingent on understanding local experiences and needs – in other words local knowledge. Despite agreement on its importance, there is no clear consensus on what this local knowledge is, how to access it, and how to incorporate it into interventions. In addition, organizational (dis)incentives often impact the ability of peacebuilders to integrate local knowledges into decision-making and operational practices. This paper tests the local knowledge typology developed by the Peacebuilding and Local Knowledge Network (PLKN) (Zyla et. al. 2024) with regards to the UN’s peacebuilding intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Based on more than 300 primary UN fieldwork documents, the paper uncovers the UN‘s mechanisms, practices and institutional structures involved in local knowledges acquisition, filtering, integration, and transfer.