Congo, Democratic Republic

IN THE LOW-INCOME sub-Saharan African nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC or DROC), formerly known as Zaire, it is estimated that 75 percent of the people live in absolute poverty and 41 percent live in inhumane poverty. Even though data are often unavailable in significant areas, the extreme poverty is evident. In the late 1990s, the DRC became a hot spot for African political unrest. Three and one-half million people died in the DRC from the war and from famine and disease. Resources were severely strained by an influx of refugees from nearby Rwanda and Burundi and by the bloody civil war and ethnic strife that followed. In July 1999, under the guidance of the Carter Center and the international community, the DRC government, along with the governments of Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, and the Republic of the Congo, signed a cease-fire.

With relative stability restored after the removal of most foreign troops in 2002, the government turned its attention to improving the economic outlook for the 60,085,804 people who live within its borders. Officials faced the daunting task of coping with extreme poverty, low life expectancy, high mortality, and low growth rates. The poverty within the Democratic Republic of the Congo is somewhat remarkable because of the country's vast potential for wealth. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have begun working with Congolese officials to tap into these resources and to initiate much-needed economic and social reform. Reforms include diversifying the economy, which is now dominated by agriculture; improving the infrastructure; and alleviating the staggering foreign debt.

Life expectancy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is 49.35 years. The median age is 15.8 years, with 48.1 percent ofthe population falling in the under-14 category and only 2.5 percent of the Congolese population living to the age of 65. The Congolese have a 47.2 percent chance of not surviving to the age of 40.

Health officials in the DRC are understandably concerned with the 4.2 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS. [Page 202]An estimated 1.3 million residents now live with the disease, and an estimated 100,000 deaths have occurred from the disease and its complications. Officials are also concerned about the very high risk of food- and water-borne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever, and the water-contact disease schistosomiasis. Some locations have witnessed outbreaks of malaria, plague, and sleeping sickness. Even treatable diseases pose problems for the Congolese because of the lack of physicians and hospital care and limited access to affordable lifesaving drugs. Health problems are further complicated by the fact that 55 percent of the population have no sustainable access to improved water sources and 79 percent have no sustainable access to improved sanitation.

The United Nations’ UNICEF estimates that hundreds of thousands of Congolese children have died from malnutrition and preventable diseases. The bloody battles have orphaned large numbers of children. Some children have been forced by rebels to engage in fighting. Infant mortality is unacceptably high in the DRC, particularly for male Congolese, and the rate has changed little from the 1980 rate of 128 per 1,000 live births. In 2000, the infant mortality rate was estimated at 129 deaths per 1,000 live births.

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