Congo/Lékoumou: Progress in the social protection of indigenous people

The joint government-UN project, "Joint SDG FUND", for the social protection of indigenous people and other vulnerable groups in the department of Lékoumou ends in June. The recent evaluation mission highlighted the progress made in terms of access to basic social services for this social group.

Launched in 2020, the "Joint SDG FUND" project aimed to achieve three main results contributing to the improvement of access to basic social services for 70% of the indigenous population of Lekoumou: inclusive education, health care, social protection... This, with the aim of strengthening human capital for better social and professional integration of this social stratum in an appropriate legal framework. It was also a question that the natives could exercise diversified economic activities, sustainable, generating employment and income, in the fields of agriculture and ecotourism...

In terms of education, in the districts of Sibiti, Zanaga, Komono, Mayéyé, 1523 indigenous and other vulnerable children have been enrolled in schools with school kits. " The objective here has been to reduce the dropout rate among this social stratum," says the Joint SDG FUND project implementation summary. In the same localities, 3,722 children have been registered in order to achieve 70% coverage.

On the economic front, more than a dozen agricultural groups have been formed with the aim of reducing the prevalence of food insecurity by 10% in two years.

Access to health care is one of the objectives of the project. To this end, 8113 vulnerable children aged zero to five, including 2639 indigenous children, have benefited from a vitamin A supplement and systematic screening for several diseases. In addition, a medical care mechanism for the indigenous population has been put in place to, among other things, reduce maternal deaths, reduce the number of newborn deaths by 25% per 1000 births, and improve the quality of life of the population.In addition, a medical care mechanism for the indigenous population has been put in place to, among other things, reduce maternal deaths, reduce the number of newborn deaths by 25% per 1,000 live births in hospitals, increase the vaccination rate to 70% of children under five years of age, and reduce the death rate to 150/100,000 from 810/100,000 live births.

As a reminder, the Congo is implementing the "Joint SDG FUND" project for social protection to improve the living conditions of indigenous peoples in partnership with the agencies of the United Nations system, in particular the World Food Program, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund. This project is funded by the Sustainable Development Goals Fund. The final evaluation of the project is underway. It is likely that a continuity plan will be put in place or another project of the same nature.

Source: www.adiac-congo.com