The Democratic Republic of Congo

October 2003 - September 2005

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is attempting to emerge from over three decades of political, social, and economic mismanagement and almost a decade of civil war. The civil war, along with its corollary violence and insecurity, has crippled the economy and added to the suffering of over 50 million Congolese citizens. The effect this conflict has had on women is especially severe, with rape and other gender-based violence prevalent throughout the population. As in many other places throughout the world, women are overwhelmingly responsible for shouldering the burden of providing for basic needs while struggling to hold their families and communities together in the face of some of the most desperate poverty in the world.

It is in this context that the USAID mission in Kinshasa signed a two-year cooperative agreement with Pact to increase rural household food security and incomes in the Katanga Province through a sustainable livelihoods approach. To implement this program Pact is working with two other organizations, the French NGO GRET and the U.S.-based International Foundation for Empowerment and Self-Help (IFESH). WORTH has been incorporated into the project's three-pronged approach, which links agriculture, micro-enterprise development and women's empowerment, to increase the economic viability of struggling households while empowering women to be leaders within their communities.

Currently, 5,200 women are working through the literacy curriculum and preparing to establish themselves as transparent and functioning village banks in the five areas of Lubumbashi, Likasi, Kolwezi, Kamina and Kalemie.

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