Oxfam's work in Democratic Republic of Congo in depth

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Oxfam's focus is on providing clean water and sanitation facilities, livelihoods support, public health, education, gender equality and protection.

The context

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is abundantly rich in resources, but decades of bad governance, foreign interference and brutal armed conflict have taken a horrific toll. An estimated 5.4 million people have lost their lives since 1998 due to the violence, endemic poverty and most of all preventable diseases. Over 2 million people have fled their homes.

The current conflict dates back to the early 1990s and the Rwandan genocide, when both perpetrators and victims fled into eastern Congo. Fuelled by illegal mineral exploitation, weak state authority, and porous borders through which weapons easily flow, the conflict has also been exacerbated by military attempts to forcibly disarm rebel groups, making life even worse for civilians. All parties – the rebels, the government army, the police – have been responsible for abuses of civilians. The conflict continues to devastate communities across eastern DRC.

How Oxfam is helping

Oxfam’s emergency response concentrates on providing clean water and sanitation, and we work with community groups to promote good hygiene practices to help prevent diseases such as malaria and cholera. Unlike many large emergencies, the people displaced by violence tend to be hosted by other local communities, rather than in big camps. Oxfam works with these communities to assist more than 800,000 people affected by the conflict.

Providing services alone is not enough, however, and Oxfam trains and supports local community committees to protect civilians’ rights. These committees engage with the police, army and the legal system to try and put an end to illegal detentions, extortion and other rights abuses. This work goes hand in hand with Oxfam’s global lobbying and advocacy efforts to raise attention to the conflict and the suffering of civilians.

In the northeast of the country, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has terrorised civilians for years, attacking villages, abducting women and children, and destroying livelihoods. Oxfam is providing clean water to communities, hospitals and schools in the region, and works to provide support to people living with HIV and AIDS.

Eastern DRC is extremely lush and fertile, but the conflict and obstructions such as checkpoints, where farmers are forced to pay bribes to get to markets, mean it does not produce as much food as it should. Oxfam supports a number of farmers’ associations across the region to provide them with the seeds, tools and technical advice they need. While conflict still rages in the east, in western DRC communities
are gradually rebuilding their lives. Oxfam runs longer-term development projects to help recently returned refugees and displaced people settle back into their communities, by helping them to earn an income.

We support farmers and small businesses, and provide equipment such as nets for fishermen and animal vaccines for herders. One in three Congolese children do not get the chance to go to school, trapping future generations in the cycle of poverty. Oxfam works with local parent/teacher associations around Kinshasa and Mbandaka to construct and renovate classrooms, train teachers and provide equipment. We provide schools with clean running water and new latrines, to try and ensure that children stay healthy to learn.

Ultimately Oxfam believes that better governance in DRC could greatly alleviate poverty. Oxfam works closely with teachers’ unions and farmers’ associations to help them hold their government accountable.

 

Last updated: January 2011