COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor – 19 August 2020

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), under the leadership of President Félix Tshisekedi, has demonstrated its commitment to regional integration in Central Africa. This commitment has been maintained despite COVID-19, which has not stalled the ongoing Economic Community of Central African States’ (ECCAS) institutional reform process as some may have feared. Instead, not only are the countries of the subregion moving forward with the reform agenda, but they have also adopted a regional response to the pandemic, which addresses its cross-border aspects.

While MONUSCO learnt valuable lessons from the recent Ebola outbreak in the east of the country, the global nature of COVID-19 – which was accompanied by severe movement restrictions, healthcare risks and profound socio-economic shifts – challenged the way we were doing business and required a fundamental shift in our approach.

There are lessons to be learnt from the DRC’s approach and decision to declare an end to its national state of emergency, in spite of increasing numbers of infections and growing strained relations between the government and some of its citizens.

When Africa surpassed 1 million COVID-19 infections on 7 August 2000, the Great Lakes region ranked as the continent’s worst-hit area. Accounting for roughly one third of Africa’s total population, the region reported over 60% of Africa’s confirmed infections (600 000 cases) and more than 50% of its fatalities (11 500 cases). South Africa faced by far the heaviest caseload, followed by Kenya, Sudan and the DRC.