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In this paper we provide a theory of chain projection ordered categories and generalize that of chain projection ordered groupoids developed by East and Azeef Muhammed recently. By using chain projection ordered categories, we obtain a structure theorem for DRC-restriction semigroups. More specifically, we prove that the category of DRC-restriction semigroups together with (2,1,1)-homomorphisms is isomorphic to the category of chain projection ordered categories together with chain projection ordered functors. Moreover, some special cases are also considered. As applications of the main theorem, we demonstrate that the existence of free projection-generated DRC-restriction semigroups associated to any strong two-sided projection algebra and reobtain the structures of projection-fundamental DRC-restriction semigroups. Our work may be regarded as an answer for the fourth problem proposed by East and Azeef Muhammed in [Advances in Mathematics, 437 (2024) 109447]., Comment: 60pages

At the end of 2012 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suspended its financial assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Due to inflationary pressures which occurred in the last quarter of 2016, several decision-makers called for a reopening of a formal cooperation with the IMF. This process was formally completed in December 2019. The restart of IMF programs was greeted with satisfaction by politicians and widely commented in the media. However, recent history shows that the DRC managed to achieve exceptional economic performance, between 2012 and 2016, without being in a formal cooperation with the IMF. Some people wonder whether IMF assistance is a curse for recipient countries? We argue that the underlying problem has nothing to do with accepting or not the IMF assistance, but rather in the ability of policy makers to establish effective leadership and good governance for the development and implementation supporting structural reforms., Comment: in French

Between April 2014 and March 2018, the SWIFT Consortium, led by Oxfam with Tearfund and ODI as members, carried out the 'SWIFT 1' project in DRC and Kenya to provide access to water and sanitation and to promote basic hygiene practices. In DRC, the consortium worked with implementing partners HYFRO, CEPROSSAN, and PPSSP in rural and semi-urban areas in three eastern provinces – North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema. This Effectiveness Review evaluates the success of this project to increase the sustainability of water and sanitation systems and services. It focuses on measuring benefits attributable to additional activities the project carried out in rural areas, above and beyond the national ‘Villages et Ecoles Assainis’ (VEA) approach. Using a quasi-experimental evaluation design, impact is assessed among individuals and their households in intervention and comparison communities in Kirotshe and Mweso Health Zones in North Kivu., Find out more by reading the full report now.

There is growing concern that teachers in low-income countries are increasingly demotivated, which may partially explain deteriorating teaching performance and student learning outcomes, high rates of turnover and absenteeism, and misconduct. At the same time, remarkably little systematic research has examined the living and working conditions for teachers in sub-Saharan Africa and how such conditions predict teacher well-being and performance. Teachers in low-income countries (LICs) are often ill equipped for the challenges of teaching and face many hardships in their work and personal lives that threaten their well-being and effectiveness in the classroom. The present study uses a cumulative risk framework to examine the multiple challenges teachers experience and selected indices of their well-being and teaching quality. The study uses two samples to answer these questions. The first is a representative sample of primary school teachers from the southeastern province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the second is a representative sample of Kindergarten teachers from the Greater Accra Region in Ghana. Analyses examine the various risks teachers face in their lives in and out of work, as well as how these risks accumulate and predict professional well-being and teaching quality. Specifically, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) Is cumulative risk associated with lower teacher motivation and higher burnout and job dissatisfaction in a representative sample of primary school teachers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Ghana?; (2) Is cumulative risk associated with lower teaching quality in Ghana?; and (3) Are particular domains of cumulative risk more or less predictive of teachers' motivation, burnout, job dissatisfaction, and teaching quality? Are work-related risks more predictive than risks in the domains of teachers' personal lives? The results indicate that the cumulative hardships teachers face in their work and personal lives contribute to the poor motivation and burnout found in other studies. It is critical that conditions for teachers, both professionally and personally, are targeted for improvement in order to enhance teachers' capabilities and effectiveness in the classroom. Two tables are appended.

Using learning from protection programming in Colombia, Oxfam has been implementing its community protection programme in the DRC since 2006. It aims to help individuals prevent, and respond to, violence and abuse, while also holding duty-bearers to account for the protection of civilian populations. The programme uses a community-based approach that involves building Community Protection Structures (CPSs). Supported by Oxfam and partners, these are designed to identify the main threats faced by communities and find the best way of addressing them, while engaging with local authorities., The programme seeks to address power imbalances, between men and women and also between rights holders and duty-bearers. Its core premise is that communication among community members, and between them and local authorities, is key in order to find pragmatic ways to uphold people’s rights while also holding authorities to account. This communication must be informed by a shared understanding of human rights.

A country report for Congo is presented from publisher Country Watch, with topics including Gross Domestic Product, economic recovery from Covid-19 crisis, and political stability.

This case study reflects on progress of Oxfam’s Within and Without the State (WWS) programme in the Équateur Province of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following a visit by the WWS Programme Coordinator in March 2016. Despite the project being relatively new in DRC, signs of change are already being seen. This case study outlines six key contributing factors to constructive engagement between civil society and the state, using examples and testimonies from community members involved in the project. It keeps two questions in mind: What does this change look like? And how is this change happening?

This paper presents a vision system and a depth processing algorithm for DRC-HUBO+, the winner of the DRC finals 2015. Our system is designed to reliably capture 3D information of a scene and objects robust to challenging environment conditions. We also propose a depth-map upsampling method that produces an outliers-free depth map by explicitly handling depth outliers. Our system is suitable for an interactive robot with real-world that requires accurate object detection and pose estimation. We evaluate our depth processing algorithm over state-of-the-art algorithms on several synthetic and real-world datasets., Comment: submitted in ICRA 2016

In the past, residents of Soya in North Kivu relied for water on a stream during the dry season. Few families had access to a latrine; most would defecate in the bush near their houses, and hand-washing was rare. Illnesses such as diarrhoea, stomach aches and skin problems, on the other hand, were common., Under the SWIFT programme, Oxfam is supporting Soya to implement the government-approved ‘Healthy Villages and Schools’ approach through local partner Hydraulique sans Frontières (Hyfro), which has constructed four new water points in the village and has trained ‘community motivators’ in hygiene awareness., Hyfro has helped the community set up a water users’ committee to maintain the new system, and a management committee to monitor and oversee the process of reaching ‘healthy village’ status. Find out how committee members feel about their roles, and how they intend to ensure the changes in their village are sustainable.

In the past, residents of Mwandiga I, a semi-urban village in South Kivu, had no access to clean water, instead using water from Lake Tanganyika for drinking, washing and cooking. Defecation took place mostly in the surrounding bush, hand-washing with soap or ash wasn’t practised, and the importance of good hygiene wasn’t understood., Now, however, as a result of work done through the SWIFT programme, the community has easy access to clean water, and thanks to the Community Health Club set up by Tearfund with the support of Africa AHEAD, the village has been transformed., A free, voluntary club that holds weekly discussions on health and hygiene topics, the Community Health Club has brought about significant improvements in the well-being of residents, with a noticeable fall in the incidence of sickness and even a beneficial effect on the village economy.

The ‘Healthy Villages and Schools’ approach is a step-by-step process of village mobilisation that is supported by DRC’s Ministry of Public Health and UNICEF. Under the SWIFT programme, Oxfam is supporting Kasitu to implement the approach through local partner Centre de Promotion Socio Sanitaire (CEPROSSAN)., CEPROSSAN has rehabilitated Kasitu’s water source and capped it to provide safe, sustainable water. It has helped the community set up a water users’ committee, whose job it is now to maintain the spring, and a ‘healthy village’ committee to monitor and encourage progress. Four community motivators trained in hygiene awareness now visit each household to check that good hygiene behaviour is being practised., Residents have already noticed a fall in the incidence of sickness, leaving them with more time and energy to cultivate crops, and are using money that previously paid for clinic visits to fund school fees instead.

The ‘Healthy Villages and Schools’ approach is a step-by-step process of village mobilisation that is supported by DRC’s Ministry of Public Health and UNICEF. Under the SWIFT programme, Oxfam is supporting Soya to implement the approach through local partner Hydraulique sans Frontières (Hyfro)., Hyfro has helped Soya establish a village management committee, and train ‘community motivators’ in hygiene awareness. It has assisted the village to upgrade latrines, dig rubbish pits, and promote hand washing, and has constructed four new water points in the village, from which clean, safe water is always available. Hyfro has also helped the community set up a water users’ committee, whose job it is now to collect money from households and use it to maintain the system., The health of Soya’s children in particular is reported to be significantly better as a result of the changes, and the positive impacts of improved hygiene and sanitation have created their own momentum.

In the past, sanitation was poor and illnesses such as diarrhoea were rife in Matongo, a semi-urban village in South Kivu. Defecation used to take place mostly in the bush, hand-washing with soap or ash wasn’t practised, the importance of hygiene in preparing food wasn’t understood, and discarded rubbish rotted in the roads., Under the SWIFT programme, Tearfund with the support of Africa AHEAD set up a Community Health Club: a free, voluntary club which holds weekly discussions on health and hygiene topics. As a result, the village has been transformed. Awareness of the importance of good hygiene practices has improved dramatically., Villagers have noticed an improvement not just in their environment, but in their health and their sense of community. The incidence of sicknesses has fallen, and villagers are enjoying a new community spirit.

In Katchungwe, a semi-urban village in South Kivu, defecation used to take place mostly in the bush. Hand-washing with soap or ash wasn’t practised, the importance of hygiene in preparing food wasn’t understood, and discarded rubbish rotted in the roads. Sickness and disease were widespread. Now, however, thanks to the Community Health Club set up through the SWIFT programme by Tearfund with the support of Africa AHEAD, the village has been transformed., The Community Health Club is a free, voluntary club which holds weekly discussions on health and hygiene topics and sets practical assignments. Members have already seen the benefits of adopting the new behaviours in terms of a drop in the incidence of sickness, and are sharing what they have learned with their neighbours.

Ungwa Sangani, a single mother who lives in Lulinda, South Kivu, used to leave home very early in the morning to make a two-hour round-trip to a river to fetch contaminated water for herself and her three children. She would stop work in her field early to collect water again in the afternoon, and had little time for her business producing palm oil., Now, however, as a result of work done by Tearfund through the SWIFT programme, the community has access to clean, safe water in the heart of the village. Ungwa’s children are less sick, and now she doesn’t have to get up so early to collect water, she can spend more time in her field and developing her palm oil business., As a result, Ungwa is able to buy more food for her family to eat, as well as new clothes for herself and her children. Like the other residents of Lulinda, she is determined that the recent changes in her community will last.

In the past, the women of Katungulu had no alternative but to make a two-hour round-trip to a contaminated river to collect water. The scarcity of water meant that villagers couldn’t wash themselves, their children or their clothes. It was also a source of conflict., Now, however, as a result of work done by Tearfund through the SWIFT programme, the community has access to clean, safe water in the heart of the village. Many families have constructed latrines with ‘tippy-taps’ where they can wash their hands, and hygiene behaviour has improved dramatically., Katungulu’s women report a sharp drop in the incidence of sickness in the village as a result. The fights over water with their husbands have stopped, they are less tired, and they have been given information about women’s hygiene issues for the first time. They are determined to pass on what they have learned and ensure the changes to their lives are sustainable.

The residents of Katungulu used to have to make a two-hour round trip to a contaminated river to collect water. Defecation took place mostly in the bush; the few latrines were dirty and poorly maintained; and hand-washing with soap or ash wasn’t practised. Diarrhoea, malaria and water-borne diseases were rife., Under the SWIFT programme, Tearfund has been working with the residents of Katungulu to implement the government-approved ‘Healthy Villages and Schools’ approach to village mobilization. Sickness in the village since it received access to clean, safe water and since the ‘healthy village’ process began has dropped sharply. Having taken over responsibility for the new network, the community is determined to ensure its long-term sustainability.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently gripped by national political deadlock and plagued by localized armed conflicts, both old and new. In the central region of Kasai, the conflict between government forces and the Kamwina Nsapo militia escalated dramatically in the first quarter of 2017 and has caused a serious humanitarian crisis extending over five provinces. The crisis has led to major food insecurity, and exacerbated the existing vulnerabilities of the local population., Women in DRC play a limited role in public life and their access to services and opportunities is constrained. The crisis in Kasai is entrenching existing inequalities in gender norms. In this context, Oxfam conducted a gender analysis in October–November 2017 in order to identify the impacts that the conflict is having on women, girls, boys and men in the province and their coping mechanisms. This report presents the findings of the analysis and recommendations intended to inform Oxfam’s own humanitarian programmes and those of its partners and other organizations, as well as the wider humanitarian response.

Oxfam’s programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo work in a context in which violent and non-violent conflict affect communities and protection and governance concerns are closely linked. Some protection threats, such as illegal taxes and arbitrary arrests, stem from structural governance issues, and other protection threats, such as forced marriage, are exacerbated through the challenges that local authorities face in fulfilling their role as duty bearers., This learning report explores the overlap between protection and governance, and Oxfam's staff in the DRC share learning of potential value for the review and design of other governance and protection programmes in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.