The results in context

Three projects contributed to this theme: the Living Peace project, the Mawe Tatu project and the Commodities-Chain-Care (3C) project.

Gender-based violence in DRC is very common. The programme works with both perpetrators and victims. It works to strengthen the position of women in society both by economically empowering them and by working on the attitude of men.

The Living Peace project’s ‘positive masculinity’ approach to combating sexual violence has reached 1,830 men. This project includes the main perpetrators of violence: ex-combatants, the army and police. The trust between communities and the army and police has increased in the project areas. Village savings and loan associations have economically empowered 4,351 women. This reinforces their capacity to provide for their families and reduces the number of enrolments in armed groups (Mawe Tatu).

The ‘one-stop’ centres established provided holistic care to 381 gender-based violence survivors. In communities in which the project is implemented, a decrease in the number of SGBV cases has been observed. As a result of project interventions, 219 perpetrators (including well-known war lords) have been arrested, directly contributing to stability (3C).

The results in context

Three projects are being implemented under this theme: Media for Dialogue (M4D), the Consortium for the Integrated Stabilisation and Peace of eastern DRC (CISPE) and the I4S trust fund (Managed by Monusco).

A total of 108 dialogues were organised for local conflict management and 70 journalists were trained to monitor and counteract hate speech. The results have been an increase in knowledge and awareness in the target populations, grassroots networks have been built and spaces have been opened for cross-border dialogue and exchange. This has helped to combat negative perceptions of others, rebuild trust within and across borders, and facilitate locally owned solutions (M4D).

Seven security plans were endorsed by the government to enhance security at the local level. The security threats identified include many politically sensitive issues, such as land grabbing (concessions), financing of armed groups and harassment by the army and police. Thanks to the endorsement of the plans by all actors and levels of government, these topics can now be openly debated. These issues are starting to be translated into advocacy and media campaigns, which will extend the impact of the project beyond its intervention areas (CISPE project).

Support to the International Security and Stabilisation Support Strategy (I4S) has been reshaped. MONUSCO’s Stabilisation Support Unit (SSU) will strengthen the political dimension of its projects by improving content co-ordination and drawing lessons for scaling up from the I4S projects.

The results in context

The Water4Virungas project aims to provide access to water to communities living around the national parks on the border between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda. Towards the end of 2018, the project supplied water to about 3,825 people and preparations were made for the construction or rehabilitation of water supply infrastructure that will benefit a significantly larger group of people during 2019. Prior to this, communities had to enter the park to fetch water, leading to conflicts with park guards and exposure to armed groups. Bringing water close to the community has reduced violence and human rights abuses in the implementation area.

The Lake Kivu Monitoring Project has started to revise the management prescriptions for the exploration of gas from Lake Kivu. This joint project by Rwanda and DRC contributes to improved relations and collaboration in the exploitation of this natural resource.

The results in context

Food security activities have taken shape: the FARM and Maji ya Amani projects contribute to the realisation of results under this theme.

Both projects look at enabling conditions, such as access to land and conflict mitigation. Results in terms of value chain development are starting to be delivered. For example, Bralima (Heineken DRC) has an agreement with a farmers’ organisation to purchase 3,000 tons of rice annually. Banks are involved in supplying credit to farmers.

The development of a model of group land titles (212 titles in 2019) has improved land tenure security. These titles provide a cheaper alternative to land ownership registration and are seen as a potential tool to protect farmers on a large scale from land grabbing.

The organisation of a conference on land tenure (Bukavu, June 2019) has created a platform for discussion with leaders and has led to large support for tackling difficult issues such as: regaining land for communities from unproductive concessions; developing alternative titling systems; and addressing poor land governance. An action plan was developed, addressing major political issues. The conference and action plan make it possible to discuss these issues. The implementation of the action plan will take time but shows that longer-term approaches can make a difference in the Great Lakes region. The strong ownership of the conference by the new DRC government, led by Felix Tshisekedi, justifies a modest amount of optimism.