From 11 to 17 April, a group of eight parliamentarians from donor and recipient countries participated in a field visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo organized by the World Bank in cooperation with the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB).

During conversations with local parliamentarians, government, donors, World Bank staff, CSOs and the private sector they gained insight into the enormous challenges that Congo faces and the response of the World Bank Group. Topics raised by the visiting parliamentarians included natural resources, the business climate, women’s rights and good governance.

The parliamentarians from Cameroon, Canada, the Central African Republic, France, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sweden and the UK visited various World Bank sponsored projects throughout the country’s capital Kinshasa: a school for girls, a market, a medicine distribution center and a blood bank. “Good projects” blogged one of them “But a lot more needs to be done.” The group also visited the Inga dam in the South of Congo. The Inga power complex has tremendous potential, with some estimates indicating that it may supply energy for as many as 500 million households across Africa. However, because of years of neglect in infrastructure maintenance, power shortages have become the norm rather than the exception. The World Bank is helping finance investments in the energy sector at the regional level, including through the rehabilitation of the Inga power plant.

As part of the visit the World Bank Institute (WBI) organized a capacity building session for Congolese and other parliamentarians. The session focused on parliament's role in the budget and poverty reduction strategy processes and included case studies from Cameroon and Ghana. Subsequent discussion underlined Congolese parliamentarians' limited capacity to date and their desire to become engaged as key stakeholders in the Poverty Reduction Strategy process. Revisions to the current Poverty Reduction Strategy will begin this summer.

At the end of the visit, the parliamentarians shared their thoughts and recommendations with World Bank Country Director Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly and her staff, who manage one of the biggest World Bank programs in Africa. It comprises seven emergency projects and nine sector programs and thus reflects the gradual evolution from emergency aid to sustainable development. New engagements for the fiscal year 2009 amount to 555 million USD. This engagement is necessary, as Congo’s GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world and the post-conflict country ranks 167 out of 177 on the Human Development Index. Life expectancy is 43 years and more than 20% of the children do not reach their fifth birthday.

The field visit program is supported by the Finnish government. It demonstrates to parliamentarians the practice of development cooperation in general, and the World Bank in particular, as well as the related challenges and benefits. Participants may use this knowledge to strengthen their contributions to debates in their home parliament. Field visits can also be used as a benchmarking exercise (especially for parliamentarians from developing countries) and as an opportunity to exchange views and experiences with colleagues. Countries visited previously include Niger, Cambodia, Haiti, Mozambique, Kenya, Lao, Rwanda, Yemen, Vietnam, Ghana, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Serbia and Montenegro, Ethiopia, Albania, Burundi, Uganda and Nigeria.

For more information: Esther van Damme