The Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the continent’s second largest country by area and its third most populated. The country is rich in natural resources, but a long history of war and civil conflict have made life difficult for many Congolese.

It shares borders with nine countries—Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Central African Republic, Burundi, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Angola. This fact is intrinsic to discussions of health and infectious diseases, which regularly cross borders. There have been outbreaks of the Ebola virus, hemorrhagic fever, polio, cholera, and typhoid; HIV/AIDS is a serious health problem; and tuberculosis (TB) is an increasingly serious concern.[1] Malaria is endemic. It has been estimated that the DRC accounts for 11 percent of all cases of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Not surprisingly, the greatest burden of malaria morbidity and mortality falls on pregnant women and children under five years of age.

Beginning in 2009, MEASURE Evaluation, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), worked in DRC supporting monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities and reforming and creating high-quality health information systems (HIS). This work involved collaborating with the country’s USAID mission and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) to improve malaria health outcomes, and addressing reproductive health, family planning, TB, and water sanitation issues. MEASURE Evaluation sought to improve basic health for the Congolese people by advancing health care quality and increasing their use of health services and products.

In DRC, MEASURE Evaluation focused on:

• Working closely with the National Malaria Control Program Board and the HMIS Division of the Primary Health Care Directorate to enhance reporting of routine malaria data from health facilities, specifically focusing on PMI-supported health zones, providing support to M&E focal points in nine regions and the development of centers of excellence (COEs) in each region.
• Building M&E capacity and providing technical assistance to decision makers to apply M&E results for more effective and sustainable health programming through the establishment of COEs in the nine regions.
• Supporting the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in DRC for reporting of Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) essential survey indicators through the implementation and analysis of a survey of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) beneficiary populations using the MEASURE Evaluation guide, “Collecting PEPFAR Essential Survey Indicators: A Supplement to the OVC Survey Tools,” and its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).