Kinshasa, April 14th, 2025(CPA) – The Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared eligible once again for the Peace building Fund by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who has notified the President of the Republic, CPA learnt from a press release on Saturday. “The Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared eligible again for the Peace building Fund by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who informed the President of the Republic in a letter dated April 9th, 2025. Mr. Guterres was responding to President Félix Tshisekedi’s request, sent to him in December 2024, for this renewal for a period of 5 years, from 2025 to 2029”, reads the UN press release. According to the source, this is a new step in the continuing partnership between the Congolese Government and the United Nations on peace building processes in the DRC. “Through this support, the Fund will continue its commitment alongside the Congolese Government to strengthen national peace building capacities, while ensuring that the gains made are sustainable. The support will be implemented through initiatives led by the UN Country Team and its partners, in alignment with the UN Cooperation Framework for Sustainable Development for the period 2025-2029”, wrote Antonio Guterres. The PBF is a funding mechanism of the United Nations Secretary-General aimed at contributing to peace building recovery worldwide. In the case of the DRC, PBF interventions since 2009 have supported the strengthening of governance, the coherence of peace building mechanisms and conflict prevention.
Re-eligibility of the DRC for the Peace building Fund is a strong signal
“For the United Nations System in the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s re-eligibility for the Peace building Fund is a strong signal, underlining the importance of maintaining a particular focus on the peace building field in a complex global financial context. This recognition gives fresh impetus to the efforts we are making, in collaboration with our partners and alongside the Government, to support communities, especially the most vulnerable. By building on their potential, these communities can better address the root causes of conflict and, thanks to the actions supported by the PBF, make progress towards peace, an essential condition for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”, said Mr. Adama Moussa, Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in the DRC.
“I am delighted at the outcome of this process, which has given rise to a new cycle designed to scale up the achievements of previous cycles, with a stronger, more holistic structural commitment. . It will have the particularity of supporting the government in its efforts to prevent violence as well as conflict, with an emphasis on streamlining existing programs and other mechanisms for greater efficiency,” said the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning and Coordination of Development Aid, in his capacity as Co-Chairman of the PBF Steering Committee.
22 projects valued at US$49 million in 2019 to 2024
According to the communiqué during the past cycle, from 2019 to 2024, with 22 projects valued at US$49 million, PBF supported activities in the provinces of Kasaï, Kasaï Central, Sud-Kivu and Tanganyika, in favor of social cohesion, inclusive local governance, community reintegration, conflict prevention, transition linked to MONUSCO’s disengagement, as well as the government’s program for disarmament, demobilization, community recovery and stabilization (P-DDRCS). For this new cycle, three priority areas have been validated by the PBF Steering Committee, namely: Strengthening the governance and coherence of peace building and conflict prevention mechanisms; Supporting the resilience of communities and populations most vulnerable to conflict by promoting solutions, it read.ACP/