Mid Term Review Report Programme by the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA): Reducing Gender Based Violence and Building Sustainable Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 2010 - 2012

Armed conflict and recurring emergencies over the past eighteen years have affected everyday life of the approximately 10 million people of the Eastern Congo (North and South Kivu provinces). It is estimated that 1.7 million people in DRC are internally displaced (IDPs), of which most are in East Congo. Development has seen setbacks rather than progress. Communities have little resources to improve infrastructure, incomes and livelihoods. Poverty - and extreme poverty - prevails amid low levels of education and health standards. Basic services are to a large degree lacking or of substandard quality. Without peace and security being established, the conditions of the past eighteen years may turn into more years of recurring emergencies and disasters for a population unable to stop the conflict which has origins in regional and international mechanisms.