Attachment_J.12_Situation_Analysis_of_women_and_girls_in_DRC_and_development_of_a_gender_strategy_and_action_plan_for_DFID_DRC.pdf

Introduction

In April-June 2012, the Department for International Development (DFID) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) commissioned a joint external-internal team1 to develop a gender strategy and action plan. The work consisted of five main components:

(i) A participatory gender audit to analyse DFID DRC’s policies, programmes, individual and institutional knowledge, attitudes and biases in order to identify opportunities and challenges to the realisation of gender equality objectives.

The audit included a desk review, a staff self-assessment questionnaire and a one-week visit to DFID DRC to conduct interviews and focus groups with staff and partners.

(ii) A national gender assessment to provide an overview of the situation of women and girls in DRC, trends and impediments to gender equality and an overview of donor programming and funding for women and girls’. This was a rapid assessment based primarily on a desk review, but also interviews with key donors and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on women and girls in DRC.

(iii) Two provincial-level gender assessments on Kinshasa and Kasaï Occidental Provinces to provide an overview of regional variation and greater depth on the specific situation of women and girls in different parts of DRC. These were rapid assessments based on a desk review plus eights days of qualitative fieldwork conducting interviews and focus groups with women and girls.

(iv) Development of an action plan to set out concrete and practicable recommendations on how DFID DRC can improve the way in which existing policies and programmes support women and girls.

This summary document draws together the key findings of the four assessments2 and presents overall recommendations and a proposed action plan for DFID DRC. It represents the views of the consultancy team and is not a statement of DFID DRC current or intended policy.

Why focus on women and girls in DRC?

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the worst places in the world to be born a girl. DRC ranks at the bottom out of 189 countries in the latest UN Human Development Report and 142 out of 146 countries on the gender inequality index.3 DRC is off-track or slow on progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 (Promote gender equality and empower women) and is regressing on MDG 5 (Improve maternal health).4 Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to poverty, are exposed to multiple forms of violence, have limited control over economic assets and inadequate access to basic services. They have little influence over decision-making in the home, in their communities and at the national level and harmful beliefs and practices, such as early marriage, further discriminate against them.

SITUATION ANALYSIS OF WOMEN AND

GIRLS IN DRC AND DEVELOPMENT OF

A GENDER STRATEGY AND ACTION

PLAN FOR DFID DRC

1 The team was lead by Dr Lyndsay McLean Hiker and included Sandra Sotelo Reyes and Karen Barnes Robinson of Social Development Direct. The following DFID DRC staff also contributed to the work: Anne-Judith Ndombasi, Elizabeth Monzili Ilunga Ngomba, Helen Poulsen and Sarah Spencer.

2 Copies of the full reports can be provided on request from Anne-Judith Ndombasi (aj-ndombasi@dfid.gov.uk).

3 The Gender Inequality Index (GII) reflects women’s disadvantage across three dimensions—reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market.

4 Peterman, A, et al (2011) Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, American Journal of Public Health, April 2011, p2

International evidence shows that the low status and inequalities suffered by women and girls result in poor development outcomes for individuals and their communities and constrain economic growth, poverty reduction and progress towards peace and security.5 It also suggests that progress towards gender equality will not be achieved without addressing the structural inequalities and unequal power relations that prevent women and girls from having greater control over the decisions that affect them and their families.6

In DRC, women constitute 50.4% of the population7 and without meeting the needs of and fostering the empowerment of these 34 million women and girls, DRC will not make sufficient progress towards the MDGs and other goals set out in its national poverty reduction strategy paper. However, to date, most funding to support women and girls has focused on basic service delivery and protection programming, especially in Eastern DRC. There has been limited support for broader efforts to empower women and girls and advance gender equality and little change in the status and wellbeing of women over the past decade.8

In 2011, DFID published A New Strategic Vision for Girls and Women in DRC9 which set out a strategy for the significant improvement and sustainable transformation of the lives of women and girls. It established four pillars for greater and more effective action: (i) Delay first pregnancy and support safe childbirth; (ii) Get economic assets directly to girls and women;

(iii) Get girls through secondary school; (iv) Prevent violence against girls and women. The vision makes it clear that that these changes require both direct action and work to create a positive enabling environment for women and girls including understanding and addressing attitudes, behaviours and social norms which constrain their lives and increasing support for interventions that empower girls and women to make informed choices and to control decisions that affect them.

DFID DRC has committed to meeting the needs of women and girls as a core focus across its whole programme in line with DFID’s Strategic Vision for Girls and Women.10 This is essential if DFID is to deliver results in DRC in key areas such as increasing access to basic services, ensuring a more inclusive political settlement and greater accountability, stimulating economic growth, improving the protection of civilians and building peace and security.

The situation of women and girls in DRC

A number of contextual factors are key to understanding the structures, processes, beliefs and practices which perpetuate gender inequalities and limit opportunities for women and girls, resulting in poor human development outcomes for individuals, their households and communities. These include:

• The persistence of violent conflict and instability, which has caused widespread death, displacement and destruction of the livelihoods with women also suffering high levels of rape and torture.

• The weak state presence and significance of non-state structures (e.g. customary and religious institutions), which exercise power and authority over the population and often deliver services and protection in the absence of the state.11 These non-state structures often contribute to discrimination against women, but are also important entry points for shifting unequal power relations.

• The economic crisis and high levels of unemployment, which have put pressure on households. In urban areas, many men lost their jobs, and it is now women who are the primary breadwinners through informal trading; in rural areas women also undertake most agricultural production.

• The persistence of socio-cultural norms, which perpetuate the low status of women and girls, despite the realities of gender roles: Beliefs and attitudes persist which perpetuate traditional ideals of gender roles and attempt to control the sexuality of women and girls. It is often the gap between ideals of masculinity and femininity and the reality of roles that causes tension and contributes to violence.

• The continuation of harmful practices such as early marriage and early pregnancy in many parts of DRC: which limit opportunities for girls and expose them to risk.

5 Nicola Jones (2010) Girl Hub: Your Move; DFID Ethiopia (2010) Economic returns to investment in adolescent girls 6 Eyben, Kabeer and Cornwall (2008) Conceptualising Empowerment and the Implications for Pro Poor Growth.

7 Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision, 8 Bourges et al (2012) Bilan de la lutte contre les violences liées au genre en République Démocratique du Congo.

9 DFID (2011) A new strategic vision for girls and women: stopping poverty before it starts. March 2011 http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publications1/strategic-vision-girls-women.pdf.

10 DFID DRC (2011) Country Operational Plan 2011-2015 11 Biaya, T.K. (2001) “Parallel Society in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, Chapter 4 in Shifting African Identities

Overall, reliable data and evidence on women and girls in DRC is limited. The two main data sources are the 2010 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Government capacity on data collection is very weak and the lack of reliable national statistics has led many donors to invest in their own surveys and programme monitoring and evaluation systems, but coverage is patchy these often lack consistency in terms of methodology and units of measurement. There is also a lack of data, which is both sex- and age disaggregated. Nonetheless, available data highlights the extent of gender inequalities and poor development outcomes for women and girls (see table 1).

Women and girls suffer high levels of poverty and have limited access to formal employment and economic assets.

62% of Congolese women live beneath the poverty threshold compared with 59% of men.13 Although women’s labour force participation rate is not significantly different than that of men,14 women face significant barriers to employment in the formal sector15 and most women work in agriculture or the informal sector. Significant numbers of women are engaged in precarious work, for example as commercial sex workers in urban centres and mining areas.16 Overall, only 28% of active women receive a salary and 17% do not receive any compensation for their work.17 Women’s domestic burden is much higher than men’s – women spend twice the amount of time as men engaged in domestic chores and unpaid labour, such as cultivating, fetching water or firewood.18 Women also suffer limitations in access to economic assets. Current legislation does not permit married women to sign a contract, obtain a bank loan or engage in petty trade without their husband’s consent.19 Although women can legally own and inherit land, in reality customary laws are followed in most parts of DRC and this severely limits women’s access to land in practice.20

While the overall trend is positive, girls’ educational outcomes remain persistently lower that those of boys. There has been a significant improvement in the ratio of female/male primary enrolment at national level from 68.5 in 1995 to 86.7 in 2010.21 However, literacy rates for girls remain considerably lower than boys and girls are less likely to complete school than their male peers - the primary completion rate of girls is just 50.4% as compared with 66.9% for boys.22 Although the law provides for three years of free primary education, in practice this is not always available and many families are unable to pay either direct (fees) or indirect (transport, equipment, uniforms) costs. Furthermore, there is a marked preference for the schooling of boys, with girls more likely to be kept at home to assist with domestic chores. Overall, the education gender gap is estimated to result in a loss of $301 million per year in growth for DRC.23

Whilst health outcomes are gradually improving, women and girls continue to suffer inadequate access to health service, especially sexual and reproductive health services. Whilst maternal mortality rates have fallen significantly from 870 per 100,000 in 1995 to 540 per 100,000 in 2010, they rates remain high. There is a large unmet need for family planning services, especially among adolescent girls. DRC has one of the highest adolescent fertility rates in the world with 183 births per 1,000 (2010).24 This has a negative impact on maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. Mothers aged 15-19 are more likely to experience complications in pregnancy and childbirth and their children are more likely to suffer low birth weight, inadequate nutrition and anaemia.25 Early pregnancy and marriage also have consequences on the educational and employment opportunities available to girls and young women. The main barriers to access to health services are affordability – health services are not free of charge – lack of knowledge and socio-cultural taboos around adolescent sexuality.26 The phenomenon of “filles-mères” (girl mothers) is particularly pronounced in areas of rapid social change -such as conflict-affected areas, mining zones and urban areas – where traditional gender roles are challenged by violence, migration and unemployment, family structures are destabilized and there is a gap between traditional ideals (abstinence before marriage, men as breadwinners) and social realities.

12 MICS4 conducted in 2010 provides a relatively up-to-date assessment of the situation of women and girls in DRC. However, most data in the preliminary report from the GoDRC does not disaggregate data by sex and age 13 Ministry of Gender, Child and Family / UNDP (2011). Rapport National Genre, Draft 3. Kinshasa.

14 World Bank (2010) Gender Stats 15 Shapiro et al. (2011) Gender, Education, and the Labour Market in Kinshasa.

16 Perks, Rachel (2011) “Towards a post-conflict transition: Women and artisanal mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo” 17 SIDA (2009) The Democratic Republic of Congo: Country Gender Profile.

18 Opcit. UNDP (2011) 19 Code de la Famille. Art. 445-449; Décret 2 août 1913 sur commerçants et la preuve des engagements commerciaux en RDC. Art.4.

20 OECD (2012) Social Institutions and Gender Index: DRC Country Note. Paris: OECD.

21 World Bank (2010) Gender Stats 22 ibid.

23 Plan International (2008) Paying the Price: The Economic Cost of Failing to Educate Girls.

24 Human Development Index, 2011 25 Count Down Report (2010); International Women’s Health Program (2009) The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada 26 Bosmans et al (2006) “Where Have All the Condoms Gone in Adolescent Programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo?” in Reproductive Health Matters, 14(28)

Ta bl e 1:

H ea dl in e st at is tic s on w om en a nd g irl s in

D R

C

Se ct or

In di ca to r N at io na l

K as aï

O cc id en ta l

K in sh as a So ur ce

G en er al

P op ul at io n

.3

5.

7.

W or ld B an k

Li fe e xp ec ta nc y at b irt h

.7

.4

.9

M

IC

S

U nd er -5 m or ta lit y ra te : D ea th s pe r 1 ,0 li ve b irt hs u nd er a ge fi ve

S

G en de r i nd ic es

G de r I ne qu al ity In de x

0.

H

D R

S oc ia l I ns tit ut io ns a nd

G en de r I nd ex

S

IG

I 2

H ea lth at er na l m or ta lit y

(p er

,0 li ve b irt hs

W or ld B an k b irt hs in p re vi ou s ye ar s as si st ed b y a he al th p ro fe ss io na l

S

E ar ly m ar ria ge o f g irl s ag ed

5-m ar rie d or in u ni on

S g irl s ag ed

5-w ho h ad s ex ua l r el at io ns b ef or e ag e

S

A do le sc en t f er til ity ra te a m on g w om en a ge d

-1 ye ar s

(L iv e bi rth s pe r 1 gi rls

(1

S

(W or ld B an k

C on tra ce pt iv e pr ev al en ce a m on g w om en a ge

5-

W ld

B an k o f s ex ua lly a ct iv e gi rls a ge d

-2 w ho u se d a co nd om d ur in g la st s ex ua l r el at io ns w ith a c as ua l p ar tn er

6%

0%

5%

D H

S o f w om en a ge d

-4 w ho re po rt ha vi ng a t l ea st o ne p ro bl em a cc es si ng h ea lth c ar e (2

7)

S

Vi ol ag ai ns t w om ve r-m ar rie d w om en a ge d

-4 ye ar s ex pe rie nc ed In tim at e pa rtn er v io le nc e (S ex ua l, ph ys ic al , e m ot io na l)

S

In tim at e P ar tn er S ex ua l V io le nc e:

R at es p er

,0 e ve r-m ar rie d/ c oh ab iti ng w om en a ge d

-4

A

JP

H

R ap ed in p re vi ou s m on th s (p er

,0 w om en a ge d

-4 ye ar s)

A

JP

H f 1

5-y ea r o ld w om en a nd g irl s w ho h av e ex pe rie nc ed p hy si ca l v io le nc e si nc e ag

S f w om en a ge d

-4 w ho h av e ex pe rie nc ed p hy si ca l v io le nc e in th e la st m on th s

S f g irl s an d w om en a ge d

-2 w ho th in k th at w ife b ea tin g is ju st ifi ed fo r o ne o r m or e re as on s

S

Ed uc at io n

P rim ar y sc ho ol n et a tte nd an ce ra tio fo r g irl s:

(g irl s of p rim ar y sc ho ol a ge c ur re nt ly a tte nd in g)

S

G en de r p ar ity in de x

- p rim ar y:

R at io o f f em al e to m al e en ro lm en t

(0

.8 7)

1.

S

(W

D Is

0)

S ec on da ry s ch oo l n et a tte nd an ce ra tio g irl s (g irl s of s ec on da ry s ch oo l a ge c ur re nt ly a tte nd g)

S

G en de r p ar ity in de x

- s ec on da ry

R at io o f f em al e to m al e en ro lm en t

(0 .5

8)

S

(W D

Is

0)

Li te ra cy ra te a m on g yo un g w om en a ge d

-2

S

Pa rt ic ip at io n de ci si on m ak in g

W om en in p ar lia m en t ( na tio na l o r r eg io na l a ss em bl

y) (p re -2 el ec tio ns

8.

4%

7.

5%

N

D P o f w om en e m pl oy ed in th e ar m ed fo rc es

3%

N

D P

P er ce nt ag e of w om en e m pl oy ed in th e po lic

6%

U N

D P o f m ar rie d w om en a ge

5-w ho a re th e pr in ci pa l d ec is io n-m ak er s ov er u se o f t he m on ey th ey e ar n

S o f m ar rie d w om en a ge

5-w ho p ar tic ip at e in d ec is io ns a bo ut d ai ly h ou se ho ld e xp en se s

S o f m ar rie d w om en a ge

5-w ho p ar tic ip at e in d ec is io ns a bo ut th ei r h ea lth c ar e

S o f w om en a ge d

-4 w ho d o

N O

T pa rti ci pa te in a ny d ec is io n in th e ho us eh ol d

S

Po ve rt y an d ec on om ic pa rt ic ip at io n

P er ce nt ag e of w om en li vi ng u nd er p ov er ty li ne

(5 9% m en

N

D P o f f em al e he ad ed h ou se ho ld s

W D

Is

La bo ur fo rc e pa rti ci pa tio n ra te fe m al e

(7 3% m al e)

W D

Is

P er ce nt ag e of w om en in n on -a gr ic ul tu ra l w or kf

3%

(1

2% m en

U N

D P

Violence against women and girls is pervasive and occurs within and outside conflict-affected areas. 71% of Congolese women have suffered from spousal or partner abuse in their lifetime, whether physical, emotional, or sexual.27 Despite the predominant view that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) occurs mostly in conflict-affected areas and is perpetrated by the military, the data clearly show that the majority of women in the DRC have experienced SGBV perpetrated by men they know. SGBV is strongly linked to gender inequalities and socio-cultural norms and is again linked to the breakdown of traditional structures and the militarization of society.28 Despite the 2006 law on sexual violence and a significant increase in international funding, the data suggest that levels of violence remain high, the large majority of women do not seek medical attention, psychosocial support or legal recourse and there is still widespread impunity for perpetrators.

Women’s participation in decision-making is low at all levels – national, community and household.29 During the recent elections in November 2011, none of the 11 presidential candidates were women, and women numbered only 2,160 out of 18,000 candidates in the legislative elections.30 Women make up only 8% of parliamentarians nationally and none of the 11 Provincial Governors are women.1 Traditional and community leaders in the DRC are also overwhelmingly men, and available evidence suggests that women play little role in community-level decision-making. At household level, it is men who own and decide on the use of almost all assets.32 Women’s low participation in decision-making can be explained by a range of factors: socio-cultural norms, discriminatory legislation and lack of application of international commitments,33 low literacy levels, lack of civic education about women’s political rights, and the fact that women candidates lack the training, resources and connections needed to make them effective members of political parties.34

There are significant disparities between women and girls on the basis of status, income level, region and ethno-linguistic background. Across the country, the most vulnerable women are widows, female heads of household, other low-income groups and SGBV survivors. Adolescent girls are also often vulnerable with high rates of adolescent marriage and pregnancy and increasing numbers of girls surviving by prostitution. There are also significant regional inequalities -both between and within provinces. Table 1 gives a summary of key available data on the situation of women and girls in the two provinces studied in greater depth: Kinshasa and Kasaï Occidental. It shows that Kinshasa province fares better overall on most indicators for women and girls, although the provincial level assessment revealed significant disparities within the province and some worrying trends for women and girls in poorer districts (see box 1). Kasaï Occidental has some of the worse indicators on women and girls, particularly in the areas of health, access to education and participation in decision-making. The provincial assessment also revealed significant social concerns in urban, mining and border areas of the province (see box 2).

27 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Demographic and Health Survey 2007: Key Findings.

28 Smits, R. and S.Cruz (2011) Increasing security in DR Congo: Gender-responsive strategies for combating sexual violence. Clingendael Conflict Research Unit. http:// www.cd.undp.org/mediafile/20110531_cru_Policybrief_rsmits.pdf 29 Femmes et Hommes; Quel role dans l’agriculture? Presentation by Delphine Brun, Gender Adviser, to Humanitarian Clusters 2010 30 Bakiman, B. (2011) : Un rapport sur les femmes en RDC, online: http://osutildonk.org/french/UNRAPPORTSURLESFEMMESENRDC.shtml 31 Fick and Nikwane (2008) Gender and Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 32 opcit. Presentation by Delphine Brun; Demographic and Health Survey DRC 2007.

33 GNWP (2011) Democratic Republic of Congo. Security Council Resolution 1325: Civil Society Monitoring Report 2011. Available at: http://www.gnwp.org/wp-content/ uploads/2012/02/drc.pdf 34 International Alert et LEAD (2009) La femme comme objet d’exploitation socio-économique dans la dynamique des guerres au Sud-Kivu.

WOMEN TRADERS IN MARKET

MANGOBO, N’DJILI, KINSHASA

These women traders sell secondhand clothing and accessories (fripperie) in one of N’djili’s main markets. They consider themselves successful because they have managed to earn enough money to pay for the education of their children. However, they say that profit margins are currently very low, so it is dfficult for young women to get started in the trade today.

Box 1: Kinshasa Province: Key findings of provincial assessment

Kinshasa Province is primarily an urban province encompassing the capital city, outlying suburbs and peri-urban areas. Despite better-than-average aggregate poverty statistics,35 readjusted poverty statistics (taking account of household composition, local price levels and needs), place Kinshasa as one of the poorest provinces.36 The very limited disaggregated data that exists also suggest that poverty levels vary considerably across Kinshasa province.37

This study primarily looked at the situation of women and girls in Tshangu District, through a desk review, interviews with local authorities, services providers and NGOs and focus groups with women and girls. It focused on the densely populated, poor and largely unplanned communes of Kimbanseke, N’djili and Masina. A recent household survey estimated that across Kimbanseke, N’Djili and three similar neighbouring communes, 54% of households spent on average less than $1 per day (cf. 32% average for the Province).38 The same study found that 17% of households subsisted by employment (cf. 35% average for the Province) and 22% by “petit commerce”

(cf. 27% average for the Province). These communes suffer from poor infrastructure and roads, a lack of electricity and limited access to water.39 State-provided services are extremely limited - most clinics and schools are provided by religious organisations, NGOs or the private sector, charging significant user fees that are unaffordable for many households. All respondents interviewed for this assessment said that the situation in the District had worsened significantly over the last five years.40

There are significant numbers of women and girls living in very difficult circumstances in Tshangu district. Given the high rates of unemployment among men following the economic crisis that started in the 1990s, it is women that are the main breadwinners in many households. Many women work long hours to generate income through informal petty trading and, given the persistence of traditional gender ideals, also continue to take care of all domestic tasks and childcare. Yet, women also have very limited access to economic assets - land, property and credit – and in many cases are unable to secure the capital needed to invest to improve their livelihood security.

Furthermore, many women have limited decision-making power in the household in terms of the allocation of resources. Nonetheless, some women who were able to take some decisions in their households and some had started to organize through self-help groups and associations in their neighbourhoods - although they lacked resources and links to wider women’s networks.

Despite good aggregate education statistics across Kinshasa province, in Tshangu district some groups of vulnerable girls (e.g. girls living on the streets, girl mothers, domestic labourers) are largely excluded from school and that there is a significant drop-out rate due to parents inability to pay school fees, the tendency to prioritise boys, adolescent pregnancy and the poor social and physical environment for girls in schools.4§ Nonetheless, interviews with women and girls suggested that many parents and children place a high value on education, including informal and market-linked vocational training – although provision of the latter appears to be limited.

Despite good aggregate health indicators in Kinshasa province, vulnerable women and girls can face significant barriers to accessing adequate healthcare services in Tshangu District. There are limited public healthcare facilities and a lack of access to adequate facilities in some neighbourhoods – especially for SGBV survivors. There are also significant financial barriers to accessing healthcare, particularly for poorer women. For example, in 2007, in Kimbanseke it was estimated that in case of illness, 52% of households visit a health centre and 45% “auto-medicate”.42 After malaria and pregnancy-related problems, data collected from the Kimbanseke hospital suggested that the most common health risks for vulnerable women and girls are STIs, HIV infection and sexual and physical violence.

Rates of SGBV are significant in Kinshasa - in the home, at school and in the streets43 - perpetrated by family members, teachers, strangers and security forces. Key at-risk groups include adolescent girls in vulnerable families and the growing numbers of girls and young mothers living on the streets, mostly engaged in commercial sex work. An estimated 44% of the 30,000+ children living and working on the streets in Kinshasa are girls44 and 80% of these girls are engaged in commercial sex work, exposing themselves to considerable risks of pregnancy, STIs, HIV and sexual violence.45 The mistreatment and neglect of children – boys and girls – is also significant, including via accusations of witchcraft - a complex phenomena related to traditional belief systems, family crisis and the emergence of certain types of revivalist churches in Kinshasa.46 In Tshangu District – and more widely in Kinshasa - there is a lack of child protection services and services for SGBV survivors, especially adolescents. Existing data suggests a significant proportion of victims do not receive any medical, psychosocial, economic or legal support and that a tiny minority of cases are reported to the police.47

35 See for example, 1-2-3 poverty assessment 2004-2005 figures cited in UNICEF (2008), ‘Pauvrete Des Enfants Et Disparites en Republique Democratique Du Congo’ 36 Marivoet W., 2009, ‘Decentralizing the challenges of poverty reduction in the DRC’ 37 Ministère De La Santé Publique (2011) ENQUETE NUTRITIONNELLE ET DE SECURITE ALIMENTAIRE VILLE PROVINCE DE KINSHASA. Septembre 2011 38 See Direct Marketing Kinshasa (2007) SITUATION SOCIO-ECONOMIQUE DES MENAGES DE LA COMMUNE DE KIMBANSEKE: RAPPORT SUR LES INDICATEURS DE BASE DU PROJET CTB-PAIDECO/KINSHASA. The other communes were Masina (Tshangu District), Kisenso, Limete (Mont Amba District).

39 ibid.

40 Interviews with the mayor, OSEPER, local NGOs and focus group discussions.

41 Interview with teachers, groups of girls, local mayor and NGOs working in the area.

42 opcit. Direct Marketing Kinshasa (2007) 42 DHS 2007, Peterman et al (2011) 44 Data given to us by Médecins du Monde France - working with street children in Kinshasa since 1999.

45 See Salmon, L. et al (2009) LES ENFANTS DE LA RUE A KINSHASA; Kinshasa (DRC) ; Warchild (2009) Street girls in Tshangu District.

46Save the Children (2006) The Invention of Child Witches in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Social cleansing, religious commerce and the difficulties of being a parent in an urban culture; Schnoebelen, J. (2009) Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights: a review of the evidence. Research Paper – New issues in Refugee Research for UNHCR.

47 Interview with MAGNA, international NGO working to respond to SGBV survivors in Kinshasa

Box 2: Kasaï Occidental Province: Key findings of provincial assessment

In 2005, 55.8% of the population lived below the poverty line (76.1% in urban zones).48 Although below the national average then, poverty levels have significantly worsened in Kasaï Occidental over the last five years as a result of the 2008/2009 crisis, geographical isolation and poor transport links.49 Subsistence agriculture and artisanal mining are the main sources of income. 77.9% of the economically active population worked in the primary sector in 2005, but only 5.6% were salaried in 2005 (cf. 11.2% nationally).50 The province suffers from a severe lack of electricity, poor access to water and poor socio-economic indicators, especially for women.51 There are also additional social concerns in the Province, especially in mining areas where there are significant levels of inequality and exclusion and child labour, neglect and the sexual exploitation of children are common.52 There has also been a history of population displacements in and out of Kasaï Occidental 53and unconfirmed reports of organized trafficking of people across the border, as well as rapes, beatings, enforced strip and cavity searches perpetrated by Angolan border officials.

This assessment was based on a review of key documents and data, interviews with local authorities, service providers and NGOs and focus groups with women and girls in three locations: (i) The provincial capital Kananga, a landlocked administrative city, where women and girls mainly survive via informal trading and a significant number engage in commercial sex work; (ii) Tshikapa territory, near the Angolan border, where most of the population are engaged in activities related to artisanal diamond mining, including many children; (iii) Demba territory, a rural territory where the population live on a mix of subsistence agriculture and artisanal mining.

There is a feminisation of poverty across the province. In 2009, 61% of female-headed households were below the poverty line compared to 55% of male-headed households. The average monthly income of women was $14 compared to $35 of men; only 2% of women received a salary compared to 10% of men; and 52% of informal sector workers were women.54 Food insecurity is high and many women and girls interviewed were in “survival” mode, describing daily struggles to find enough to eat for their families, sometimes enduring considerable hardship. In mining areas, women and girls have few income-generating opportunities beyond informal trading and services (mainly prostitution), activities that expose them to risks of disease and violence.55 Women also lack access to land, finance and other economic assets that might help improve their situation - due to the persistence of discriminatory socio-cultural norms and legislation.

There are significant gender inequalities in access to education. The literacy rate among young women is only 35% (cf. national average of 51%) and primary and secondary net attendance ratios for girls are lower than for boys and lower than the national average for girls. Our research also suggested that there are high levels of abandonment and absenteeism from school among boys and girls. Key obstacles to girls’ education identified were parental attitudes, lack of means, significant domestic burdens on women and girls and a poor school environment for girls. There also appears to be high demand for vocational training and catch-up schooling, but limited access.

Health indicators are worse than average for DRC, and women and girls can face significant barriers to accessing adequate healthcare services. Healthcare costs are too high for many - 88.1% of women in Kasaï Occidental reported obstacles to access to healthcare; for 77.4%, the main obstacle was financial.56 Many women reported that they therefore ‘auto-medicated’ or visited traditional doctors. Rates of early marriage and pregnancy are high – 33% of girls under 18 are married/in union (cf. DRC av. of 25%) and 22% of girls aged 15-19 have at least one baby alive (cf. DRC av. of 20%).57 The adolescent fertility rate is one of the highest in DRC and the female contraception rate is vey low. In the areas researched, family planning services were not easily accessible for adolescent girls.

SGBV rates are higher than average for DRC. Rates are especially high in mining areas, close to the Angolan border and against minors

- according to UNICEF an estimated 80% of girls working and living in mining contexts are at very high risk of being sexually exploited. 58 In the areas visited, transactional sex was a significant livelihood strategy for women and girls and there were significant numbers of girls living on the streets in urban zones. Interviews also suggest that the rape of or sexual relations with minors commonly results in forced marriage. Factors that contribute to the high levels of SGBV include socio-cultural norms, the economic dependency of women and girls and the long distances women and girls walk to get water. This violence is mostly not reported due to socio-cultural norms very limited specialised services available for survivors (limited PEP kits, psychosocial and legal support).

As in other parts of DRC, in Kasaï Occidental, social norms and practices that place women, girls and children in an inferior position, restricted by rigidly defined gender roles persist. However, social realities in Kasaï Occidental can diverge considerably from these norms (e.g. transitory lifestyles and many female-headed households) and this can lead to further stress on women and girls as well as neglect and abuse. Women’s participation in decision-making at household, community and province level is low and women’s organizations are under-funded and poorly networked.

48 UNDP (2009) Province de Kasaï Occidental: Profile Résumé: Pauvrété et Conditions de Vie des Ménages. March 2009 49 ibid; Féderations d’enterprises du Congo (2007) Etat des lieux de l’économie congolaise: Problèmes et pistes de solutions http://www.congoforum.be/upldocs/Etat_ des_lieux_document_final.pdf; confirmed by interviews.

50 All figures from UNDP (2009) opcit.

51 Op cit. Féderations d’enterprises du Congo, 2007; Opcit. MICS (2010) 52 UNICEF (2006) Le travail des enfants dans les mines de diamants au Kasaï Occidental, UNICEF, Université de Lubumbashi 53 http://hrbrief.org/2011/02/reciprocal-violence-mass-expulsions-between-angola-and-the-drc/ 54 All data from UNDP (2009) opcit.

55 Opcit. UNICEF (2006) 56 UNDP (2009) opcit.

57 Monographie de la province Kasaï Occidental, Unité de Pilotage du Processus d’Élaboration et de mise en oeuvre de la Stratégie pour la Réduction de la Pauvreté (UPPE SRP), Ministry of Plan, September 2005 58 See also UNICEF (2006) opcit.

The national response

The national legislative framework to support women and girls has been strengthened over the last decade, but there are still some laws in need of reform and there is a huge implementation gap. The 2006 Constitution affirms the equal rights of men and women; the 2006 law against sexual violence criminalises rape, sexual slavery, sexual harassment and forced pregnancy; the 2008 child protection law defines the rights of children and protects different categories of children from all forms of exploitation and abuse. DRC has also ratified CEDAW (1986) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2009). The main challenge in DRC is the weak implementation of these laws, due to severe political, capacity and resource constraints. There are also some laws that still discriminate against women – most notably Le Code de la Famille, which defines men as the household head and decision-maker and prevents married women from entering into contracts without agreement from their husbands - including to gain a microcredit or seek legal advice.

The national policy framework on gender has also been strengthened, but again progress with implementation is weak: The National Gender Policy (2009) and Action Plan (2010) set out recommendations to eliminate discrimination, to promote equity and equality and to strengthen women’s socioeconomic capacities, participation in decision-making and empowerment. However, there are currently no specific time-bound results and targets and no specific resource allocations for their implementation. DRC also adopted a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2010) and the National SGBV Policy and Action Plan (2006), but implementation is also weak.

The Ministry of Gender, Family and the Child has had limited impact due to political, capacity and resource constraints. MoGFC is mandated to ensure that the government promotes gender equality in-line with legal and policy commitments, but its has had very limited impact due to weak institutional and human capacity, a severely limited budget and poor collaboration with other key ministries. This has reinforced a limited, vertical approach to gender equality with limited engagement by other key ministries to address the specific needs of women and girls in their policies and interventions. The MOGFC coordinates the Groupe Thematique Genre, intended to improve coordination of key actors involved in promoting gender equality. Yet, its own work has largely been limited to one-off projects, events and campaigns and micro-level data collection. However, in 2012, a new Minister of Gender was named and she recently presented a roadmap, which proposes legal reforms including of Le Code de la Famille.

The women’s movement in DRC is nascent and weakly organised at a national level, but more vibrant at a provincial and local level. Some national platforms exist, but tend to focus on specific issues (e.g. participation of women in politics and peace building, addressing sexual violence), rather than on larger campaigns for gender equality and social change.

They are also weakly connected to the province level and there are considerable differences between women on the basis of class, ethnicity, regions and education. Nonetheless, in most provinces, there are active women’s groups working at community or territory level - including self-help groups, associations and NGOs implementing projects - although with dependence on external funding, usually from INGOs.

The international response

To date, the international response to women and girls in DRC has been limited and largely focused on responding to sexual violence in the context of conflict in the East. Since 2006, there has been significant diplomatic and development agency focus on addressing the high levels of sexual violence in Eastern DRC. Whilst important, these efforts have mostly focused on monitoring and providing services to survivors, rather than wider prevention and empowerment initiatives. They have also ignored the high levels of violence against women and girls in the rest of DRC, where needs for assistance are largely unmet. For example, there are no international donors and just a few NGOs working in Tshangu District in Kinshasa Province, where there are significant numbers of vulnerable women and girls and high levels of exploitation and abuse (see box 1 above). Furthermore, although the importance of multi-sectoral assistance is acknowledged, the delivery of this varies across DRC, and even in the East, and there are significant gaps in the areas of shelter, psychosocial support and socio-economic reintegration.

Most of the funding aimed at supporting women and girls in DRC can be classified as programmes that deliver services or protection programming. Some programmes focus on providing response services related to SGBV, such as healthcare and psychosocial support; others support maternal health and sexual and reproductive health services. A number of donors are also engaged in security and justice reforms, and more recently have focused on specific approaches to improving access to justice for women and girls. A limited number of actors – mainly INGOs and local CSOs –have adopted community-level approaches in their work, which appear promising.

Overall, few donors support programmes that empower women and girls and seek to challenge the structural inequalities that prevent women from realising equal rights and opportunities. In particular, there is a need for more work in four key areas: (i) Economic empowerment – many Congolese women have formed their own successful self-help groups, revolving credit groups and associations without outside help – which suggests that this is something that “works”;

(ii) Behaviour change, communications and awareness raising, working with community leaders, men and boys as well as women and girls; (iii) Specific interventions to empower adolescent girls; (iv) Capacity building of local Congolese CSOs and women’s networks, many of which are engage in innovative work, especially at community level.

There are a limited number of examples of potentially innovative programming in these areas, mainly implemented by international and local NGOs (See box 3). There are also a number of potential partners and locations which could be important for future interventions to support women and girls, but where there has been little work to date (e.g. schools, colleges, universities, workplaces, businesses, religious and traditional institutions). There is therefore an urgent need to evaluate some of these innovative pilots with a view to identifying successful approaches to scale up and engaging with new actors.

Overall, this assessment has identified a lack of robust ‘evidence’ about the impact of different development strategies and interventions in DRC, particularly with respect to changing the situation of women and girls. This is partly due to the difficulties in measuring and monitoring improvements in gender equality given the complexity of the issues involved, but is also due to a failure to invest the resources necessary for generating a solid baseline, indicators and results-focused programming. This lack of evidence about what works and why presents a challenge in terms of justifying programme interventions and making choices about programme design.

However, a number of donors are currently producing new strategies and programmes on gender equality and/or SGBV and there is a real opportunity to shift approaches. Several donors are already starting to focus in other provinces in the West and Centre of DRC, to consider how to tackle the underlying causes of gender inequalities and SGBV and to propose longer-term engagements.

Box 3: Examples of promising and innovative interventions to empower women and girls

• Village Saving and Lending Associations (VSLAs) such as those implemented by CARE. These are self-managed groups that do not receive any external capital and provide members with a safe place to save their money, acquire small loans, and obtain emergency insurance. They focus on building savings and assets, and provide credit proportionate to the needs and repayment capacities of the borrowers.

• Small savings and loans banks (Banques Mutuelles d’Epargne et de Crédit) such as those supported by Belgian NGO TRIAS.

These banks focus on offering small savings accounts and loans of less than 50,000 FC. These are therefore able to target a poorer section of society for loans and savings on an individual or group basis

• Behaviour change programming such as USAID’s C-Change project in Katanga which promotes positive social and gender norms to prevent, and mitigate school-related gender based violence. It works in secondary schools and their surrounding communities to build the knowledge and capacity of school teachers, parents and administrators.

• Working with community-level women’s organisations e.g. ISCO’s food security approach that has established village development committees linked to women’s networks in Bandundu;

• Multisectoral, long-term support for SGBV survivors e.g. Women for Women’s provision of 12-months of assistance to SGBV survivors leading to full social and economic reintegration;

• Engaging with men and male leaders e.g. Women for Women’s International Men’s Leadership programme, which trains male leaders and community members to act to prevent SGBV.

DFID’s work to date on women and girls in DRC

From 2006 to 2011, DFID DRC has implemented several measures in support of women and girls in DRC including:

(i) support to the 2005/6 Participatory Poverty Assessment, which supported analysis of gender issues in DRC’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; (ii) support to women’s participation in the 2006 elections; (iii) support to women’s representation on Local Development Committees; and (iv) financing a programme of strategic support to the GoDRC - the Gender Equality Support Project (GESP). Over this period, DFID DRC has also undertaken a number of reviews and drafted strategies and targets to improve its approach on gender. Progress on implementing the recommendations of these studies has been variable, however, and there has been limited tracking of the results. Nonetheless, DFID staff members report an increase in staff willingness to consider gender issues over this period and a reduction in negative attitudes towards female staff.

DFID’s policy approach to women and girls

In its recent Country Operational Plan (COP) 2011-2015, DFID DRC commits to ensure that the priorities of women and girls are prominent in all key programmes (see box 4). However, despite the breadth of the key target areas outlined, the key results in the COP largely rely on reaching women and girls through general service delivery approaches. There is little focus on the enabling environment and interventions to remove the systematic inequalities and structural barriers faced by women and girls. Overall, the review concluded that DFID DRC’s implicit theory of change to achieve sustainable change for women and girls and related evidence for its interventions is currently weak. This is a key area for attention in the formulation of a new strategy.

Box 4: DFID DRC’s Country Operational Plan (COP) 2011-2015: Commitments on women and girls

“DFID DRC will ensure that the priorities of women and girls are prominent in all key programmes by:

as well as by working with men and women to change discriminatory practices

• Ensuring that results are disaggregated by gender wherever possible.”

DFID DRC will focus in particular on the four target areas:

• Assets for women and girls: DFID DRC’s trade work will reduce the costs and improve the safety of cross-border trade, which is dominated by women. Our community recovery programme will improve living conditions for women.

• Preventing violence against women and girls: The Security Sector Accountability and Police Reform Programme will work at the national level and in three pilot provinces to support government, the police and civil society to develop practical approaches to improve prevention, reporting, investigation and victim support.

• (Getting girls through secondary school: To get girls through secondary school in DRC it is first necessary to get them into and through primary school. DFID’s programme will help get girls into school and keep them there including through providing material support, and improving teaching and learning, in over 1,000 schools.

• Delay first pregnancy: DFID DRC’s Access to Healthcare programme will improve access to maternal and reproductive health services, including contraception.

Key results for women and girls

zones

• Provide clean water and sanitation to at least 3 million women and girls*

• Register at least 16 million women to vote in order that at least 11 million women actually vote*

* = Headline Result; Source: DFID DRC (2011) Operational Plan…