By surface area, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third largest country in Africa. Despite its enormous mineral wealth, the country’s population is one of the poorest in the world. It is suffering the consequences of decades of dictatorship and civil war. Three-quarters of the Congolese are undernourished and 70 percent of the 62 million inhabitants have no access to medical or educational institutions. Average life expectancy is 46.

GTZ, now part of GIZ, has worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) since 1978. In 1994, development cooperation had to stop because of the civil war and the resulting security risks. In 2002, with resumption of official EU cooperation, German involvement in development cooperation intensified once more.

The democratic election of 2006 – the first in 40 years – gave the DR Congo a chance to develop its potential.

GTZ, now part of GIZ, has supported the positive developments since 2002, building on the experiences and successes of recent decades, in areas such as nature conservation, HIV/AIDS control, and private sector and civil society promotion. The agenda for the international support programme has been set by the poverty reduction strategy paper formulated in 2004 by the Congolese with the aid of the World Bank and Germany.

At the first German-Congolese government negotiations in December 2008, the following priority areas for cooperation were agreed:

• Strengthening the microfinance sector
• Biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources
• Water sector reform

GIZ supports the DR Congo on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in close cooperation with KfW Entwicklungsbank.

The peace-building, reintegration and democratisation process is being supported through programmes of emergency and transitional aid and by the UNHCR-BMZ partnership programme. On behalf of the Federal Foreign Office, GIZ has carried out measures designed to improve the performance of the Congolese police. Of the estimated 300,000 child soldiers worldwide, more than 30,000 are believed to be found in the Congo. Their reintegration into society through various programmes is an important goal on the way to a better future.

On behalf of BMZ, GIZ is implementing a large-scale health programme which concentrates on HIV/AIDS, health system development and combating sexual violence towards women, especially in eastern Congo.

GIZ also works in the DR Congo for other international organisations such as the European Union and World Bank.