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WASHINGTON—Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a U.S.-brokered peace deal, aiming to end one of the world’s most pernicious conflicts and open their shared stretch of East African mineral wealth to U.S. investment.

The DRC is one of the world’s most resource-rich countries, sitting atop an abundance of minerals used in many technology products — yet little of the wealth remains with the Congolese people.

In the soft, golden light of a Damascus morning, Zeina Kanawati sits at her parents’ kitchen table, the rich aroma of Syrian coffee filling the air.

There are many ways to describe Mary Ayor, but today we choose to describe her as defiant, a risk-taker, and audacious. Yet, no matter the words we choose, they hardly capture the essence of the woman who now serves as a headwoman in Yei County, South Sudan.

Rape, displacement, and death have defined life in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where conflict has been the order of the day since independence. The conflict, which is fuelled by the struggle for power and resources, has pitted the Congolese army and dozens of rebel groups and militia