“I am happy to be here today, to officially present the contribution of Kinshasa Municipality. I encourage other cities to allocate resources to prioritised interventions to ensure that citizens are living in dignity with basic services that include water, sanitation, health, education and other necessary services,” said Mr. Robert Luzolanu Mavena, the Minister of Planning, Budget, Public Works and Infrastructure of Kinshasa City Province. 

The Kinshasa City Province is the first local authority to have transferred their contribution to the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme. The resources will be used towards the implementation of tangible projects at municipal level. Specific areas earmarked for improvement include water and sanitation and planning projects. 

Kinshasa City Province set the pace for other cities to emulate its example and commitment. In spite of Congo being a Least Developed Country, the contribution serves to demonstrate that through policy and planning interventions as well as resource commitment, local authorities can be part of the change that citizens are yearning for.  Financing poverty and slum upgrading interventions is one of the difficulties currently being experienced by cities when addressing the challenges that come with urbanization. 

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third-largest country in Africa, with a population estimated in recent years to be at least 55.9 million. 

The Country Team involved in the implementation of slum upgrading interventions in Kinshasa focused their programme activities on the district Masina, which is home to 500,000 inhabitants.