Between emergency and development

An average income country, the Republic of the Congo is however faced with multiple humanitarian issues that require emergency actions and coverage of vital needs in the arrival zones hosting refugees from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, post-civil war rehabilitation programs and long term development projects. In 2010, ACTED Congo intervened to address such diverse needs, supporting more than 39,000 people.

Addressing emergencies caused by population displacement

Since the violent ethnic conflicts that took place in September 2009 in the Equateur Province on DRC’s border with the Congo Republic, refugee influx has not ceased, amounting to more than 116,000 people according to a December 2010 census. Arriving massively in a 3-month period, refugees have no access to land and are often prevented from fishing. They are in need of food, and their presence has increased pressure on local populations, especially on host families who have to share their daily rations, but also on the limited access to clean water and to available arable land.

ACTED has covered needs in non-food items, food and access to water for refugees in the target area, reaching approximately 36,000 people. The emergency intervention was combined with target population involvement in distribution, warehouse construction, representation committee building and aggregate input. The objective being to make a difference between vital needs coverage, at the heart of ACTED’s approach, and a handout operation.

Supporting community development and local governance

Alongside emergency interventions, ACTED has been carrying out development programs in the South. Since the conflicts were triggered in 1997, ACTED has remained present in the Pool, with a base in Mindouli, a region particularly stricken with conflict, which remains unstable today.

In January 2010, ACTED began a two-year project aimed at improving local governance in a participative and inclusive manner, and increasing income generated by agricultural production activities. The objective is to improve living conditions in the target area. In late 2010, the project helped strengthen 50 community-based organizations, draft community development plans, train and equip 40 agricultural organizations, 20 demonstration plots and 7 seed farms. ACTED has also helped improve access to water through parallel projects.

Through these projects, ACTED has helped strengthen the capacities of target populations, turning beneficiaries into partners in project implementation – representative committees, communal approach to needs definition, discussion panel setup, training to microcredit access – in order to grant greater autonomy to the area’s development initiatives.

Strengthening local NGOs and upholding an intervention linking relief, recovery and development

ACTED continues emergency interventions in the North, particularly water, sanitation and hygiene and general food distributions, and its development projects in the South. Two new programs are being kick-started in urban areas (Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire): one in the form of an emergency response to a poliomyelitis outbreak that hit the country late 2010, and the other designed to raise awareness among the population and migration authorities, and support the professional reinsertion of returnees. Firstly, ACTED is taking part in the country’s development through the setup of wide-scale rehabilitation and infrastructure building projects.

ACTED is also developing projects related to governance and environment protection, a key issue in the Congo, where the forestry sector equates to 5.6 % of the GDP, and employs the most people outside of urban areas. The projects are aimed at supporting the certification of Congolese wood, while making sure the local population’s rights are being respected, semi-nomads in particular.

Finally, ACTED is carrying on with Congolese NGO reinforcement activities by developing local partnerships, consolidating program and technical follow up capacities, as well as trainings on financial and logistics procedures. This part will help improve programs offered by Congolese stakeholders to the Congolese people.