USAID/OTI DRC Field Report
July 2005
Program Description
The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) helps stabilize and revitalize war-torn communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by facilitating community-level reintegration of war-affected youths and increasing broad awareness of key transition issues. OTI's objectives are achieved through a program called Synergie d'Education Communautaire et d'Appui à la transition (SE*CA, pronounced "C'est ça!"). The program, implemented by Chemonics, focuses in eastern DRC, the epicenter of DRC's wars, on community reintegration and revitalization. It consists of the following components: (1) basic life skills and vocational training (Youth Education and Skills/YES) provided by Master Trainers; (2) small grants to enable participating communities to put learned skills into practice; and (3) Transition Awareness and Participation (TAP) grants. These TAP grants are aimed at reinforcing YES messages through media-focused public awareness campaigns, improving access to information by strengthening Radio Okapi (http://www.radiookapi.net), and increasing the professional capacity of indigenous community radio stations.
Country Situation
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Democratic Republic of Congo
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Security – Although security is stable in most parts of the country, the United Nations Mission in the Congo (MONUC) has reported growing insecurity in eastern DRC. In South Kivu Province, soldiers from the Congolese Army and/or Rwandan Hutu rebels committed attacks and human rights violations, including the massacre of 39 people in Ntulamamba. MONUC considers that the actions of the Congolese Army troops are a result of the absence of a commander for the 10th Military Region that covers South Kivu. MONUC has called upon Congolese authorities to appoint someone as soon as possible.
The FDLR (Forces Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda) Hutu rebels, accused by the Rwandan regime of having orchestrated the Rwandan genocide, stated this year that they would voluntarily go back to Rwanda. The Congolese Army launched a joint operation with MONUC in mid-July to help secure areas where FDLR members remain. These operations were aimed at improving the security in the region in the long-term. However, they have created insecurity in the short-term by displacing numerous residents toward Walungu Territory, west of Bukavu in South Kivu Province.
In Ituri District in northeastern DRC, certain areas are becoming more stable as a result of recent large-scale disarmament efforts. However, those who are refusing to disarm have banded together to create a new militia, the Congolese Revolutionary Movement, which appears to be behind numerous threats and attacks launched against the Congolese Army and MONUC. Militia members are asking humanitarian workers to stop using MONUC as an escort to avoid being targeted for attack.
Transitional government and elections – On July 31, voter registration ended in the capital of Kinshasa; approximately 3 million people registered there for the constitutional referendum in October and elections scheduled for early next year. The total number of potential voters is unknown. In late July, registration began in Orientale and Bas Congo Provinces, and, by the end of the July, approximately 145,000 people had registered in Orientale Province and approximately 110,000 in Bas Congo Province. On July 11, at a donors' conference in Brussels, participants pledged 89 million euros of the total elections' budget of 430 million euros.
USAID/OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
July was a pivotal month for the SE*CA team. The final round of grants had to be initiated in order for them to be successfully completed before the program closes at the end of the year. At the same time, work continued with CONADER (the national organization in charge of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants) to finalize the ways in which SE*CA would assist CONADER in helping ex-combatants in Ituri District.
SE*CA's Youth Education and Skills (YES) training program is divided into two 6-month cycles. The first cycle was completed in April 2005. The second cycle should be completed by late October in Punia and Kalima Territories in Maniema Province; and Buta, Isiro, Bafwasende, Aru and Mahagi Territories in Orientale Province. Each community has two local learning facilitators who conduct training sessions. These facilitators are trained by SE*CA Master Trainers. As part of the second cycle, more than 9,900 participants have completed their first two modules ("Reaffirmation of Values" and "Conflict Management") and are beginning the third module, "Democracy and Governance." Attendance continues to improve. The Bunia office had anticipated 2,400 participants in Mahagi and Aru (Ituri District) but had 3,900 participants attending the "Conflict Management" module. This increase demonstrates the value that communities place on the YES training, even though participants are not paid to attend the sessions.
Under the Transition Awareness and Participation (TAP) initiative to keep Congolese informed of recent developments in the political transition process, a SE*CA Community Information Center Network was established in July, and a coordinator based in Kisangani was recruited to help launch radio-listening clubs and community information centers that are being established by USAID. Through local grants, SE*CA is also providing broadcast equipment for community radio stations; developing a training program for the listening club animators and the Community Group Improvement Councils; procuring shortwave radios for the listening clubs; donating megaphones to 10 YES communities to help with community sensitization campaigns and meetings; and providing technical and journalist training for community radio stations in Muanda, Mbandaka, Kolwezi, Tshikapa and Kasongo. With this technical and material support, these community radio stations are becoming part of Radio Okapi's official network of FM stations and are expanding the coverage of the only national independent radio station in local languages. In order to help communities access Radio Okapi shortwave and facilitate discussion and understanding of political transition issues that are broadcast on the news, the TAP team is establishing listening clubs in the Kisangani region, in eastern Orientale Province and in Maniema Province. In addition, community information and training centers are being installed as regional hubs for the SE*CA network of learning facilitators and radio listening clubs, while also providing a forum for community members to access information about the country's transition and to meet on community issues.
B. Grant Activity Summary
| Support the reintegration process between war-affected youth and their host communities |
5 |
$77,201 |
67 |
$1,651,159 |
| Reinforce awareness to foster community participation on issues key to the transitional process |
6 |
$52,800 |
43 |
$ 946,390 |
| Total |
11 |
$130,001 |
110 |
$2,597,549 |
Some of the grants signed in July are highlighted here. To support reintegration of recently demobilized ex-combatants, one grant was signed to rehabilitate the road between Ariwara and Nderi, north of Aru in Ituri District. The Aru transit center closed on June 24 and approximately 2,500 demobilized militiamen returned to the communities around it. The grant gives some of these ex-combatants an opportunity to work for wages, helping to address their needs and prevent them from returning to their militias. The grant also will improve socio-economic conditions in the area by facilitating trade once the road is fixed. Four water projects also were initiated in July in Buta and Isiro in Orientale Province and Punia and Kalima in Maniema Province. In addition to helping improve basic living conditions, these grants support reintegration by bringing together diverse groups to work on joint projects.
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| YES learning facilitators travel to Congo River communities to train them in governance. |
A transition awareness grant was initiated in communities on the Congo River in partnership with Innovative Resources Management and the Independent Election Commission. This grant will support six YES learning facilitators to provide "Democracy and Governance" training to Anti-Corruption Committees in river communities in Equateur and Orientale Provinces. The grant addresses the information deficit in the country that opens the door to political manipulation.
Another transition awareness grant supports a community radio station in Buta, which is 325 kilometers north of Kisangani and is the capital of the Bas Uélé District in Orientale Province. Buta's 76,000 inhabitants are almost entirely cut off from information and access to the outside world. The only national radio broadcast is two hours a day from Radio Okapi. The lack of credible information could bring about renewed conflict. This grant will address the lack of information by providing a partially functional radio station with equipment and with a foundation for an antenna that could expand broadcast to a 100-kilometer radius.
C. Indicators of Success
Punia, in northeastern Maniema Province, is isolated, with poor physical infrastructure and little outside access. The area, frequented by Mai Mai (local defense forces), was a popular route for the militia during the country's war. The large population of war-affected youths, including ex-combatants, is one of SE*CA's targets. The Youth Education and Skills (YES) training there currently has 1,200 participants, and a new water-point rehabilitation project was recently approved. Three anecdotes about this area point to SE*CA's success.
A participant in the YES "Conflict Resolution" module told a SE*CA employee that, "Had SE*CA not come here, I would have definitely killed," referring to the person who had looted his property during the war. He explained that SE*CA had taught him to try to separate what happens during war from individual actions.
A chief invited SE*CA to bring its Youth Education and Skills training into the villages that he oversees between Punia and Kindu. He had been encouraged to do so by observers that he had sent to training sessions in neighboring villages. After the SE*CA team explained that its resources were limited and that it would not be able to expand to new villages, the chief was willing to continue sending observers 50 kilometers away to Punia for the training. Communities are actively seeking out opportunities to participate in the six-month voluntary program.
After receiving the YES module "Reaffirmation of Values" that emphasizes community reconciliation and teamwork, three communities decided to improve communication, accessibility and trade by rehabilitating four bridges that were in a critical state. The YES module had helped them realize that a community's well-being was everyone's responsibility, not only that of local authorities. After seeing the community members at work, the local government supported them by offering nails, wood and saws. Not only are the bridges being rehabilitated, but the relationship between local government and the population is improving. In addition, relationships between the three communities improved when they shared the labor. By all three groups rehabilitating all the bridges, even if a bridge was not in their community, the work progressed quickly.
D. Program Appraisal
The SE*CA program continues despite challenges and mistakes. However, success is driven by acknowledgment of those mistakes and an effort to correct them. Regardless of the type of community, SE*CA sees positive results. The team breaks new ground and tries new tactics by moving into geographic areas that most organizations would deem too risky or difficult. It implements a program for which participants are not paid, despite the historic norm. And it works directly with communities, rather than through local nongovernmental organizations, which may not be present or properly equipped to help. SE*CA's team members are often approached by national and international institutions to work with them to share SE*CA's approach and ideas.
Surveys are conducted to obtain quantitative data, including a comparison of communities in which SE*CA has and has not been engaged. In a recent survey in Kindu (Maniema Province), three sets of results from two focus groups of equal size (nine people) were compared. One focus group was from a community that had had SE*CA training, while the other had not. The SE*CA-trained group had a more positive perception of stability in the community: 55 percent stated that stability was good and 45 percent stated that it was average. In the non-trained group, no one stated that stability was good; all said that it was average. Also, all respondents in the SE*CA-trained focus group agreed that information on the political transition was useful to them, compared with 45 percent in the other group. And 33 percent in the SE*CA focus group, versus none in the other group, stated that their knowledge on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration was average. These comparisons demonstrate the program's contribution toward the political transition process and community stability.
Next Steps/Immediate Priorities
SE*CA will continue monitoring the Independent Election Commission's information campaign, and will develop grants for a community radio project in Bafwasende, for a hospital rehabilitation project in Buta, and for World Peace Day in September.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C.: Galeeb Kachra, Program Manager, e-mail: gkachra@usaid.gov; telephone: (202) 712-1905
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| Enlarged map of the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
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