Overview
The Population Council’s work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) focuses on improving access to contraceptives and other reproductive health services. The DRC is one of the locations that the Council and UNFPA have selected for re-integrating the use of the female and male condom; the Council has pioneered a strategy to include more men in the community distribution of condoms in order to improve male access to contraceptives.
The DRC is also one of 11 countries participating in the African Forum on Emergency Contraception, or ECafrique, a network that seeks to increase the availability of high-quality emergency contraception (EC) services in Africa.
Highlights of past and present work
- Supports research, advocacy, and service-delivery interventions at the country level as a member of ECafrique, a bilingual, international network of health care and business professionals from more than 200 institutions that seeks to increase the availability of high-quality emergency contraception (EC) services in Africa.
- Assessed the benefits of adding more men to community-based distribution (CBD) programs in order to reach more men in the community and distribute more condoms.
- Identified strategies for re-integrating both the female and male condom into the national reproductive health and HIV and AIDS programs in the DRC and other West African countries.
Banner photo: © Laudes Martial Mbon/IRIN
Projects
Comprehensive Condom Programming in West Africa (more)
This Council project identified strategies for re-integrating the female and male condom in the national reproductive health and HIV and AIDS programs of Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
(1/2008 - 12/2008)
Access to contraceptive methods; Condoms (male and female); Scaling up interventions
Resources
No publications are listedCongo, DRC Fast Facts
| Population (millions) | 69.1 |
|---|---|
| Total fertility rate | 6.1 |
| Infant deaths per 1,000 live births | 115 |
| Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births | 1100 |
| Girls aged 20-24 married by age 18 (%) | 39.1 |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence (%) | 1.4 |
| Living below US $2 per day (%) | 80 |
Country statistics from Demographic and Health Surveys, 1987–2011; UNAIDS and UNICEF websites (accessed 10/22/2012); "World Population Data Sheet" (Population Reference Bureau, 2012) | |
What's New
- "Sometimes, all that stands between a survivor and the help she needs are a few simple questions." The Council’s Chi-Chi Undie discusses intimate partner violence in Africa in a blog post on RH Reality Check. (offsite link)
- 31 January 2013 | Bixby fellowship application deadline: The Council’s Fred H. Bixby Fellowship Program expands training opportunities for social scientists and biomedical researchers in the health and population fields. The program is geared toward developing-country nationals in the early stages of their careers. (more)
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