Concerning economic, social and cultural rights, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken a number of measures to ensure the protection of the rights of women, particularly working women. Due to the policy of the Government, women are increasingly present in the labour market, with a rapid increase in their labour force penetration rate between 2005 and 2012 (59% in 2005 and 64.11% in 2012). In this same regard, one can also mention the establishment of a rural development fund to facilitate access to credit by women in the rural areas where they work in the agricultural sector. On the protection of the rights of widows, the Congolese State has taken appropriate legislative measures to ensure the protection of widows. Through the Ministry of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action and National Solidarity, the Government is paying special attention to the NGOs dealing with the supervision of widows who mainly depend on the supplementary budget of the State. The campaign waged by the Ministry of Women, Family and Children’s Affairs for the regularization of marriages by the authorities of the Registry Office contributed significantly to the improvement in the succession rights of widows. In future, the Government intends to popularize the various formulated and ratified legal instruments, including the Maputo Protocol, through real communication with all segments of the population, given the fact that numerous studies have shown that one of the major obstacles to the promotion of the rights of women in the DRC is truly the poor knowledge of the laws and concepts relating to gender. Furthermore, the implementation of most policies, strategies and programmes is not forthcoming as a result of the lack of substantial resources; consideration of gender needs during the formulation of the budget would also be a solution for the advancement of the rights of women. Apart from these aspects relating to the popularization of the various enactments and the allocation of substantial resources for the promotion of equity and gender equality, the government is thinking about several prospects which can be summarized as follows in the various thematic areas dealt with by the MAPUTO Protocol. In the area of education, the vision of the government revolves around the following priority actions selected to encourage the delivery of education for all: (I) improvement in equity, access and retention of children in the various educational levels and basic education in particular, and with specific reference to girls as well as vulnerable and disadvantaged children in difficulty; (ii) improvement in all aspects of the quality of education, particularly internal efficiency and conditions at all levels (classrooms, latrines, bathrooms for pupils, teachers’ tables as well as recruitment and training of teachers); (iii) improvement in curriculum content and provision of teaching kits to teachers, and (iv) improvement in the management (financial, pedagogical and administrative) of the system of education and training. With regard to health, particularly maternal, infant and child health, the vision of the government is to have a Congolese nation where every born child is wanted and does not have to die due to avoidable causes: a nation in which every woman enjoys good maternal health and does not lose her life or have it threatened by avoidable diseases or disease conditions linked to pregnancy or child delivery; and, finally, a nation where men, women and children enjoy good quality sexual health free from HIV/AIDS as well as harmful and discriminatory sexand/or gender-related practices. Concerning maternal and infant health, the government’s strategy is to improve the quality of reproductive health care and to fight against diseases. The centres of interest for the operationalization of this strategy are as follows: (i) · promotion of the health of women; (ii) promotion of the health of children; (iii) promotion of the health of adolescents and young people as well as promotion of the health of men, and (iv) repositioning of family planning. On the fight against HIV/AIDS, the priority strategic pillars target both prevention and the management of reported cases and support for orphans. Economically, the medium and long term growth prospects for the DRC are promising. With the economic development strategy based on the transformation of agriculture (through the construction of agro-industrial parks), the weight of agricultural activities in growth is expected 72