Improving Urban Environmental Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In the 1990s, urban areas in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), a country divided by
conflict, were in particular crisis as a result of
rapid growth and poor management of public
services. The severity of the urban crisis led
USAID/DRC toward a focus on urban
environmental health programming. Work began in
October 2000, with the collaboration between
USAID/DRC, the Environmental Health Project
(EHP) and the Regional Urban Development Office
(RUDO) at USAID/South Africa, to develop and
implement an Urban Environmental Health
Strategy. Subsequently, three short-term, resultsoriented
pilot projects were implemented that were
consistent with the strategy. The work ended in
January 2002.