Download TRANSFORMATIVE STRATEGIES FOR WOMEN`S

TRANSFORMATIVE STRATEGIES FOR WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF
CONGO
PROPOSED SIDE EVENT FOR THE CSW 60 2016, NEW YORK
Introduction
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a vast, fertile, mineral-rich land and has tremendous potential for
agricultural and economic growth, but this is dwarfed by many development challenges. Having only recently
emerged from a brutal civil war, the resurgence of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is
nothing short of a disaster. It has put an end to a precarious period of peace and wiped away any likelihood
of the country properly emerging from the shadows of a conflict that cost 5 million lives.
Poverty and food insecurity in DRC is rife. After peace was declared in 2003, the UN reported that up to 1,200
people-a-day were dying from malnutrition and preventable diseases. Even prior to the latest civil
disturbances in the North and South Kivu regions in the east of the country, life expectancy for adults was
just 42 years and two-thirds of the population was malnourished.
Overview
DRC is one of the largest countries in the world: this central African state is roughly the size of Western
Europe but only one per cent of land is under cultivation. The country hosts half of all of Africa's forests and
has significant deposits of gold and the highly-prized mineral coltan. Most of the country's natural resources
and people are found in the southern grasslands, while the northern and central regions are largely forested.
Farming is predominantly low-input and subsistence-based, with little commercial activity, particularly in the
wake of the civil war.
About 70 per cent of the population live in rural areas, and around 40 million people depend on farming for
their livelihoods. Despite this, agriculture contributed some 45 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in
2006 - down over ten per cent on 1997. Important food crops are plantain, maize, cassava, groundnut and
rice. Cash crops, usually grown on plantations by smallholders, include coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, cotton and
rubber. Palm oil products and quinquina (a bitter, alcoholic drink containing quinine) are also produced for
domestic and export markets.
The livestock sector is largely undeveloped, with small numbers of cattle, pigs, goats and chickens. Livestock
populations have suffered significantly since the civil war, when many farms were looted and the animals
stolen. As an important source of dietary protein, consumption and sale of wild animals ('bushmeat'),
including some primates, is widespread. This has been fuelled partly by poor living conditions and the rise in
the number of internally-displaced people (IDPs) fleeing regional conflicts. The country hosts over one million
IDPs, and recent tensions have uprooted a further 250,000, raising fears of a looming humanitarian disaster.
With the Congo River and its many major tributaries, and four of the continent's Great Lakes on its eastern
border, DRC's fisheries sector holds great potential. But the fledgling industry also suffered during the war,
when many fish farmers abandoned their ponds. Natural threats exist too: fish populations in Lake Kivu were
devastated by lava flows from Mount Nyiragongo in 2002. The country's seaport at Banama in the southwest
has potential to be developed for commercial sea fishing.
Despite being an agricultural exporter prior to independence in 1960, farming in DRC has been through long
periods of stagnation and decline. Currently, the sector is growing at two per cent per year, but this is slower
than the increase in population. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), has blamed the
government's lack of support for agriculture for continuing food insecurity in the country.
Many farmers have struggled to gain access to credit and there has been a prolonged lack of both public and
private investment in agriculture, as well as in the country's energy and transport infrastructure. Many roads
in both rural and urban areas have fallen into disrepair and energy provision in the countryside is extremely
limited, while the lucrative mining industry has drawn agricultural labour away from the fields and into the
mines. These factors, combined with the destabilising effects of war, have also contributed to widespread
hunger. Recent global food price rises have hit the import-dependent DRC hard.
Despite a wealth of underexploited forests, fisheries and farmland, it is likely that conflict, inadequate
government support for farming and ongoing instability will ensure that this potential remains untapped.
Without security and stability, foreign investment will continue to be hampered and infrastructure projects
will not see the light of day. DRC has greater potential than many of its African neighbours to lift its
population out of extreme poverty, but its agriculture sector needs wholesale reform, with the support of the
government and the private sector. Before any of this can be achieved, however, the country must first find
peace.
The agricultural sector supports two-thirds of the population. Agricultural production has stagnated since
independence. The principal crops are cassava, yams, plantains, rice, and maize. The country is not droughtprone but is handicapped by a poor internal transportation system, which impedes the development of an
effective national urban food-supply system.
Proposal:
The 60th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women will be held in New York from 14th – 24th
March 2016, under the theme “Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development” and
the review theme: “The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”.
The review theme will provide an opportunity to review progress on and remaining challenges to
achieving the Platform for Action towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
5.1-5.3.
The proposal is therefore to convene a side event coordinated by the UN Women ESARO, of
representatives from DRC government, UN agencies, CSO at the CSW 60th session for this purpose. The
event will be coordinated in partnership with UN Women (ESARO – under the docket of the Women
Economic empowerment Regional Advisor) and participating country offices). The event will be led
technically by the UN Women ESARO in partnership with DRC Country Office. A brief will be prepared to
highlight the format of the event.
Objectives:
1. To profile DRC government as a strategic partners in empowering women by 2030. These issues
are key mainly because of their future productive potentials;
2. To provide an opportunity for DRC government and UNWOMEN to engage and build strategic
partnerships;
3. To showcase DRC achievements and share the pathway for cultural leadership to advance key
gender equality and women empowerment goals.
Possible benefits to UN Women:
The session will provide an opportunity to highlight a first of its kind regional initiative supported by UN
Women on engaging with traditional and cultural leaders to support targeted initiatives towards ending
harmful cultural practices and increasing women’s participation in peace processes.
Target Audience: AU Department of Social Affairs, Ambassadors of UN Missions based in New York, UN
Partners (including UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Department of Peace Keeping), Africa Divisions of UN Agencies
in New York, Bilateral and Multilateral Development Partners, Government delegations, CSOs, Religious
Leaders, Academia, Media.
Preferred Dates: 15 March 2015
Proposed Role of Senior Managers: Attendance and networking.
UN Women divisions/sections/field offices that will contribute to the event: UN Women ESARO, UN
Women DRC
Proposed Speakers
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Representative of Prime Minister
Ministry of Gender, SWEDEN
Ministry of Women, family and Children, DRC
The Special Representative of the Head of State on Sexual Violence
Statistical information
Country: Democratic Republic of Congo
Capital: Kinshasa
Area: 2,345,410 sq km
Population: 66,514,504 (July 2008 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.2% (2008 est.)
Life expectancy: 52.22 years
Ethnic groups: over 200 African ethnic groups, of which the majority are Bantu; the four largest tribes
- Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the
population
Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of
Kiswahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba
Inflation: 16.7% (2007 est.)
GDP purchasing power parity: US$19.03 billion (2007 est.)
GDP per capita: US$300 (2007 est.)
GDP composition by sector: agriculture: 55%; industry: 11%; services: 34% (2000 est.)
Land use: arable land: 2.86%; permanent crops: 0.47%; other: 96.67% (2005)
Major industries: mining (diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan, zinc), mineral processing,
consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages),
cement, commercial ship repair
Agricultural products: coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava, palm oil, bananas, root
crops, maize, fruits, wood products
Natural resources: cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum/coltan, petroleum, industrial and gem
diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, timber
Export commodities: diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, cobalt
Export partners: Belgium 22.8%, China 20.9%, Brazil 12.1%, US 9.5%, Finland 8.8%, France 6.6%,
Zambia 5.8% (2007) Agriculture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has an enormous
potential.