Press release No.: IFAD/04/09

Rome, 6 February 2009 − A US$23.33 million grant from IFAD to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the integrated rural rehabilitation programme will help reduce poverty, food insecurity and improve the living conditions of the population in rural areas of Maniema Province.

The grant agreement was signed today in Rome by Georges Webi Loambo, Director of Cabinet of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lennart Båge, IFAD President.

Maniema Province, in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was severely damaged by war from 1996 to 2003. During this time the local population endured loss of human lives, plundering and sexual abuse of women. The people in the province continue to suffer from chronic food shortage, very low incomes and little access to basic social services.

In support of the country’s engagement in a peace process to rebuild the nation, IFAD’s objective is to rehabilitate agricultural production, open access to markets and improve incomes and well-being by enhancing access to water and health care in the most vulnerable areas of the province. Approximately 42,200 households will benefit from the programme.

To date, IFAD has funded six rural development projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a total of about US$80 million.

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IFAD was created 30 years ago to tackle rural poverty, a key consequence of the droughts and famines of the early 1970s. Since 1978, IFAD has invested more than US$10 .6  billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped over approximately  350  million very poor rural women and men increase their incomes and provide for their families. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It is a global partnership of OECD, OPEC and other developing countries. Today, IFAD supports close to 250 programmes and projects in 87 developing countries and one territory.