Prime Minister Ilunkamba has just authorized, on Monday, October 14, 2019, the Minister of Urban Planning and Housing Then Mwabilu and the Minister of State for International Cooperation Guillaume Manjolo to sign two orders.

This, after his visit to the site where the great Cultural and Artistic Centre of Central Africa will be built as well as the INA Buildings, the National Institute of Arts, where he ordered the resumption of work.

The first decree concerns the postponement of the decree of 14 October 2016 and the second concerns the decommissioning of a portion of land in favour of Sino-Congolese cooperation.

The Chinese company BEIJING URBAN CONSTRUCTION GROUP is in charge of building this large Centre for 30 months. The cost of the work is estimated at US$100 million.

After this visit to the field, the head of the Ilunga Ilunkamba Government himself presided over the signing ceremony of these two ministerial decrees for the implementation of the Chinese government’s donation to the DRC.

There was talk of ending the superposition of orders first by repealing the one that granted the same concession to Richesse Taylor.

It should be noted that the cultural and artistic centre, one of the largest in Central Africa, will constitute, according to the Minister of State for Cooperation Guillaume Mandjolo, an innovative source for the public treasury and restore the DRC’s position as a leader in the world of African culture.

This large Centre will be located between the triumphal boulevard and Assossa avenues, a few metres from the People’s Palace.

The construction of this important cultural building includes the large 2,000-seat theatre, the small 800-seat theatre, meeting rooms, the gymnasium and a car park.

Nadine FULA

From 10 to 20 cases of contamination per day, the number of cases of Ebola has gone from 10 to 20 cases per day on Wednesday, October 02, 2019 to only one. In short, great progress has been made thanks to the curative and effective molecule discovered by Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe. Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamlba discussed the situation with the Ebola Virus Coordination Team.

Accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Health, Albert Mpeti Biyombo, team leader and virologist Muyembe Tamfum reviewed the disease’s progress in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.

At the basis of this success, the organization of the fight associated with the administration of the curative and effective molecule that has been discovered. To this must be added the support of the population, which has a better understanding of the importance of its role as a component in the fight. Finally, the support and financing of partners.

The Ebola Virus Coordination Team Leader also indicated that coordination requires financial support. This will make it possible to continue to motivate the staff involved in the fight in the field so as not to lose all these achievements. And soon several partners involved in this fight will benefit from World Bank funding.

Dr. Muyembe asked the Head of Government to increase the number of these types of meetings for better information sharing with the objective of maintaining vigilance.

This working session took place on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Nadine FULA

A feedback workshop on the first meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on the new Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework was held in Kinshasa from 1 to 3 October 2019 at the initiative of the General Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development, with the support of partners.

Experts from both public and private institutions in the DRC, representatives of environmental civil society organizations as well as indigenous peoples and local communities took part. The aim is to immerse ourselves in the results of the conference held from 27 to 30 August in Kenya.

The aim of this workshop was to encourage stakeholders to become involved in the preparatory process of the above-mentioned framework, as recommended in decision 14/34. And launch the consultation process on possible elements of a post-2020 global biodiversity framework as proposed.

Stakeholders shared the results of the first meeting of the Working Group for three days to select elements of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework relevant to the DRC. This will allow the DRC to better prepare itself to participate in the next meetings planned in the same framework and to share its agreed priorities in a consensual manner at the country level.

« Kenya’s meeting was important in that it reassured us that, at the international level, the priorities selected by the DRC in the field of biodiversity are beautiful and well integrated into this new global biodiversity framework. It should also be noted that the funding that will be mobilized globally for biodiversity in the next decade will be directed towards actions in line with this new framework, » said Mike Ipanga, focal point of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the Ministry of the Environment.

In practice, the new Global Biodiversity Framework is intended to succeed the Strategic Plan for Biological Diversity 2011-2020. It should therefore be based on the lessons learned from the implementation of the plan and the Aichi biodiversity objectives and the best available scientific knowledge.

« Today’s reflections have turned around three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the first of which is zero deforestation, zero species loss and a 50% reduction in man’s consumption and production footprint, » said Alfred Yoko, head of the Wildlife and Wild Flora Programme at WWF/DRC.

Olivier Kamo