The Democratic Republic of Congo has its history written in blood. A study by the International Rescue Committee estimated that between 1998 and 2007 some 5.4 million people had died as a result of the war, 2.5 million of them since the peace agreement, and almost all of them through starvation and preventable and treatable disease. Of DRC’s population of 74.88 million, 63.6 percent live below the poverty line and lack access to adequate food. According to DRC’s Demographic and Health Survey 2013-14, among children under five, 43 percent are chronically malnourished (stunted), and 23 percent are acutely malnourished (wasted), with rates of between 52 and 53 percent in North and South Kivu and Kasaï-Occidental provinces. In January 2016, the UN estimated that 7.5 million people in DR Congo, or 9 per cent of the population, were in need of food and other humanitarian aid. AusCongo Network (ACN) is seeking to build hope for the future of Congolese people by identifying and developing communities to implement capacity building, community-based training, microfinance, agriculture and internet.

Key Areas of Investment

• Agriculture
• Micro-financing projects
• IT access
• Sustainable livelihoods projects
• Increased educational opportunities
• Establishment of small businesses
• Access to community-based life-skilling
• Health care & clean water