The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) risks paying dearly for the decision to dissolve the DRC Social Fund (FSRDC) and replace it with a new public body. This action could cost the DRC more than a billion dollars in funding for humanitarian and development projects by the World Bank.
According to correspondence from the World Bank, the FSRDC was the entity in charge of the execution of projects with a total budget of 1.04 billion US dollars, including the Project for the Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence ( PRVBG) for US$100 million; the Eastern DRC Stabilization Project for Peace (STEP) for US$695 million; and the Eastern Stabilization and Recovery Project (STAR-East) for US$250 million. And in total, 616,380 beneficiaries will be directly impacted by this dissolution.
The World Bank deplores the absence of a prior discussion that would have made it possible to better assess and anticipate together the consequences of this decision. It also recalls that the decision to dissolve the Social Fund is not in accordance with the legal agreements concerning the modalities for the implementation of the aforementioned projects.
Before being able to continue to commit project funds, the DRC government and the World Bank should agree on the transitional measures to be put in place in order to ensure that the funds are used for the intended purposes in accordance with the policy. project financing from this international financial institution.
On the other hand, President Félix Tshisekedi proceeded to the dissolution of the Social Fund of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FSRDC) created in 2002. This decision should lead to the interruption of approximately 5000 contracts of individual consultants within the framework of the STEP 2 project, relating to the construction of Basic Infrastructures (IBD), as well as the termination of the execution of 492 contracts.
This dissolution risks further harming the financing of development projects and further impoverishing the Congolese population, which already suffers from food insecurity and lack of drinking water, among other challenges. Alternative solutions and urgent actions are needed to remedy this situation and move the country forward on the path of development.