Congo (DRC), ESPER 2 Peace and Security program in East DRC

The ESPER 2 project aims to improve the living and security conditions of the population in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu. ESPER 2 targets more than 2,500,000 people, who will benefit from the improvement of the security situation through the action of the authorities and communities supported by the project.

ESPER 2 is the next phase of ESPER, which was implemented between 2020 and 2024. ESPER 2 can be considered as a phase-out of ESPER.

The project seeks to achieve the following objective:

• The various state and non-state actors that have a role in implementation understand and own good governance principles/skills and are committed to their implementation through the transfer of skills;
• Governance mechanisms (including planning, implementation, evaluation) include relevant groups in society (in particular gender, minorities and people affected by insecurity);
• Governance needs at all levels are effectively budgeted, disbursed and spent;
• Quality and appropriate security and judicial services are provided in response to prioritized problems;
• Local conflicts are addressed and sustainably resolved by state and non-state stakeholders;
• Accountability and communication mechanisms between government, community structures and civil society structures for security governance are guaranteed ;
• Hierarchical authorities formalize best practices by being responsive to lobby and advocacy efforts;
• Hierarchical authorities invest and operationalize an accompaniment and evaluation mechanism to guarantee the performance on local security governance.

The results sought by the project are as follows:

• Result 1 : Local security governance mechanisms function in an increasingly performant manner.
• Result 2 : The population is satisfied with the security, judicial and social services provided by the ETD and local structure.
• Result 3 : Best practices and results are capitalized upon by stakeholders with a focus on sustainability.

The services provided by VNG International are:

• Collaboration agreement
• Institutional budget diagnostics (in collaboration with Cordaid)
• Updating local security and operational plans
• Development and dissemination of tools and outreach materials
• Mapping and diagnosis of local community governance structures (with Cordaid)
• Capacity strengthening and skills transfer
• Coaching for hands-on accompaniment for local governance
• Thematic training based on needs identified in diagnostics (organized by VNG International and Cordaid)
• Support to authorities in preparing and analyzing budgets and resource mobilization mechanisms for PAS implementation
• Joint lessons learned workshops
• Institutional support (budget-related)
• Support for CLSP meetings at the ETD level
• Support for CLSE meetings to address ETD security concerns
• Support for implementing specific CLSP/CLSE recommendations
• Updating, developing, and implementing a lobby and advocacy strategy
• Advocacy initiatives at the local, provincial, and national levels
• Benchmarking
• Accountability meetings (authorities vis à vis citizens, PFTs)
• Formalization of best practices
• CPAGS, Comités de Suivi, and Comité de Pilotage

Locations

• Ituri province: Aru territoriy, Mahagi territory, Djugu territory, Irumu territory and Bunia town
• North Kivu province: Beni territory and Beni town
• South Kivu province: Uvira territory and Uvira town
• Political engagement work in Kinshasa

NB: Since the security situation in DRC has been evolving rapidly and a part of the intervention zones have been occupied by the M23 rebellion, the ESPER 2 program will in agreement with the donor seek adaptive measures, focusing on intensification in those areas that remain under control of the DRC government.