Democratic Republic of Congo

Recent activities

Last Update 10.06.10

With the EITI Validation deadline approaching in March 2010, the Congolese PWYP coalition worked hard to disseminate information about the benefits of EITI to a wider public. At the beginning of 2010, their efforts were focused on public dignitaries – organizing workshops for MPs of the Equateur Province and for members of the national Senate. Despite the sometimes low governmental commitment to EITI, the coalition managed to sustain enough momentum in the process for the first reconciliation report (for 2007) which was published in March. Those for 2008-2009 are due to follow soon. The coalition was pleased to learn of the six-month extension period granted to DRC to finalise its EITI Validation report.

Continuing challenges relate to the nature and levels of civil society participation in the EITI process. A workshop held in late March raised questions concerning: the freedom of the MSG civil society delegates to share information with the rest of the coalition, as well as dissemination of EITI reports amongst the broader public; and frequent harassment of CSOs by public authorities. Other issues still to be resolved are improvements needed to the EITI reporting templates, plus the lack of a budgeted EITI work plan.