Les actions et programmes de coopération de l’USAID en RD Congo
Un article de Ngoma.
USAID's Strategy in DR Congo
A peaceful Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a key to regional stability, given its size and central location in the continent. The USAID program in the DRC is fully integrated into the U.S. government’s diplomatic efforts to broker peace within the DRC and in the region, and complements the $200 million annual USG contribution to the United Nations PeaceKeeping Operation in the Congo. USAID/DRC focuses on health, food security and agriculture, democracy and governance, education, protecting biodiversity in the Congo Basin Region, and conflict resolution.
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Improving health care
Life expectancy for men and women is only 46 and 51 years, respectively. The USAID health program increases access to and improves the quality of key health services. An emphasis is placed on malaria treatment and prevention, routine vaccinations, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and improving health care provider performance and drug supply systems. Overall immunization levels in USAID-assisted health zones are above national levels. For example, a polio campaign organized in part of the country in 2004 resulted in as many as 98 percent of the children being immunized.
Increasing Agricultural Production
Agriculture is central to the lives of the 67 percent of Congolese living in rural areas. For that reason, USAID supports programs to help farmers grow more and better crops. One program has improved agricultural productivity by rehabilitating rural roads and distributing improved seeds. USAID has provided 50,000 farmers with support for growing cassava—a staple crop—and has produced four cassava mosaic disease-resistant varieties. Another USAID activity is organizing agricultural credit associations in the eastern DRC, particularly targeting women.
Promoting democracy
The DRC’s first general elections are scheduled to take place between June 2005 and June 2006. To prepare, USAID is helping establish democratic institutions, including supporting the development of electoral, national, and decentralization laws and a new constitution. USAID is supporting resource centers, workshops, public forums, and radio programming to inform citizen participation in the political process. As a result, public involvement in reviewing and drafting key legislation has improved markedly. USAID also helps strengthen community conflict resolution and local governance. Through its anti-corruption program, USAID decreased the number of taxes and fees levied on western Congo River traffic from over 24 to four, and improved profitability of businesses operating on the river by 20 percent.
Improving Basic Education
Only 56 percent of women in the DRC know how to read. USAID seeks to improve access to and quality of basic education, especially for girls, through innovative teacher training, distribution and proper use of educational materials, and encouraging community participation in education. USAID is training teachers via radio- and internet-based programs. Radio programs also broadcast messages on the importance of girls’ education to local communities. Scholarships to vulnerable girls complement these activities. Over 11,000 primary school girls received scholarships for the 2003-2004 school year.
Protecting Forest Ressources
Millions of people depend on the Central African rainforest for their livelihoods, but this is under threat from conflict and illegal logging. Through the Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), USAID seeks to reduce the rate of forest degradation and loss of biodiversity through protected area management, improved logging policies, sustainable forest use by local inhabitants, and improved environmental governance. Following collaboration with USAID, several major logging companies have committed to improving management practices through activities such as halting the bush meat trade.
Reintegrating former fighters and victims
Conflict, including the widespread use of rape as a means of subjugation of the population, is a huge problem affecting millions of Congolese citizens, particularly in the east. USAID has been implementing a complex emergency disaster response program in the DRC since the early 1990s. USAID has helped ex-combatants peacefully return to their communities by employing them in labor-intensive road reconstruction and other community infrastructure rehabilitation projects. Since 2002, USAID has helped over 10,000 survivors of sexual violence with counseling and, in some cases, reconstructive surgery. Mobile clinics now respond quickly to reports of rape.
What's New - Cassava and Food for Progress Program Activities in DR Congo Close window
activities in the Kinshasa and Kasaï Occidentale provinces where project activities extend beyond cassava to include other food crops such as maize, peanuts, beans, soybean, rice, and banana. Except for the Bas Congo, Kinshasa and Bandundu provinces, program activities concentrate within and in the buffer zone around the CARPE (Central Africa Regional Program on the Environment) Landscapes of Lac Tumba, Maringa-Lopori, Salonga, and Maiko.
