CRS in Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) boasts a population of approximately 115 million people, vast lands and rivers, and abundant mineral resources. In recent years, life expectancy has increased from 50 to 60 years of age. Mean years of schooling have increased from 7 years to 9.7, and gross domestic product per capita has increased by $430 from $150 to $580.

CRS DRC continues to address sudden-onset emergency and long-term development issues in collaboration with church partners, government agencies and other humanitarian actors. Core programming areas include transformative health, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene, and agricultural interventions that respond to the country’s diverse challenges. CRS development and humanitarian assistance maintain a strategic focus on the Kasai region, in central southern DRC. CRS’ work in the DRC is founded on a strong partnership with national and local Church structures. CRS has collaborated with 13 diocesan Caritas partners, in addition to national Church structures such as Caritas Congo and the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo. By working through Church partners, CRS has been able to serve remote populations despite extremely challenging operational conditions.

CRS' History in Democratic Republic of Congo

CRS began operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1961 at the invitation of the country's Catholic Episcopal Conference. Since 1993, the agency has maintained a continuous presence due to permanence of the conflicts, in order to provide timely assistance to populations at risk.

With an initial focus on emergency response, CRS has expanded into development programs with integrated, wide-ranging and gender responsive and transformative health, water security, nutrition, and agricultural interventions.  Whether through direct implementation or through local partners, CRS’ presence across the country ensures our ability to rapidly start-up projects and reach beneficiaries in remote areas.

Today, the DRC is among CRS’ largest country programs, with a FY19 budget of around $24 million. CRS DRC currently has 181 national and 16 international staff working out of the Kinshasa head office and sub-offices in Kananga, Mbuji-Mayi, Goma, Bukavu, Kalemie, Lodja, Kole and Lubumbashi. We count around 25 partner organizations across our program portfolio.