On 10 January 2010, the Congo reached the completion point of the HIPC initiative, offering
some hope to the social sectors. In the same year (14 June 2010) the Child Protection Act was
enacted in Congo; the Act relating to the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous
peoples was adopted in 2011.
With the renewed growth, the better governance that allowed access to the HIPC initiative in
January 2010 and the public works move and the rehabilitation of social infrastructure, the
government has made significant progress in all social sectors.
1. The gradual improvement of the living conditions of the population through:
a) A decrease in the unemployment rate of 19.4% in 2005 to 7% in 2011 (ECOM 1 and 2),
although the situation remains a concern for young people;
b) An effective reduction in the poverty rate for 50.7% of households in 2005 to 46.6% in
2011 (ECOM 1 and 2);
c) Controlling inflation;
d) An increase in civil servants’ salaries.
2. Development of a context or environment conducive to significant progress in the areas of
Health, Education and Welfare, through:
a) The fall in mortality rates:
• Infant, 75% from in 2005 to 39% o in 2012;
• Infant and child, from 117% in 2005 to 68% in 2012;
• Maternal from 781% per 100 000 live births in 2005 to 426% per 100 000 live births in
2012, not far from the threshold of 396% set by the health development plan.
b) The increase in the enrolment rate and the return to the momentum of the 90s:
- Preschool: From 3% in 2009 to 15, 5% in 2012;
- Primary: From 106, 4% in 2005 to 120.69% in 2012, marking a return to the 1990s levels.
c) The increase of the social affairs sector capacity in policy, instruments or tools
development in terms of care and outcomes occurred through:
- The development and validation of the National Social Action Policy (PNAS) and sectoral
plans for the disabled, elderly, vulnerable children, indigenous peoples and birth registration
and adoption of basic legal texts (law of child protection, law on the status, protection and
promotion of disabled persons, legislation on the promotion and protection of the rights of
indigenous peoples, ratification of the International Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime and the Protocol against trafficking in persons ...) ;
- The development of standards and management procedures for orphans and vulnerable
children, street children, children victims of trafficking;
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