Attachments
OVERALL PROGRESS
Context
Due to its physical, geographical, geological, and climatic realities on the one hand, and the level of culture and risk acceptance of the population on the other, Congo is characterized by a high exposure to natural and anthropogenic hazards. Disasters are recurrent, exacerbated by physical, functional, and structural vulnerabilities. Risks related to natural hazards include sea level rise, coastal erosion, flooding, and landslides. This ever-increasing vulnerability is compounded by rapidly changing economic, social, and environmental processes.
The Republic of Congo has experienced economic stagnation since 2015, aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising food and transport prices. According to the World Bank, the economy contracted by approximately 3.5 per cent in 2021, leading to an increase in extreme poverty from 39.1 per cent of the population in 2015 to 53.9 per cent in 2021. Economic recovery was affected by the decline in oil production in 2021, a decrease of 11 per cent year on year. Economic recovery is a major priority for the Republic of Congo, including restoring growth and resuming negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and traders to settle its external debt. To achieve this, the Government has adopted a new national development plan for 2022–2026, which will lead the structural and profound transformation and diversification of the Congolese economy.
According to estimates from the International Labour Organization, unemployment affected 10.3 per cent of the total working population in 2020, compared with 9.6 per cent in 2019. Unemployment is increasingly affecting young people aged 15 to 24, who are generally first-time job seekers. Furthermore, the health status of the Congolese population is characterized by high morbidity, attributed to infectious and parasitic diseases and non-communicable diseases. The prevalence of severe acute malnutrition remains high. It is estimated that 31,736 children aged six months to four years suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and this is compounded by limited access to quality primary health care, recommended immunization and appropriate channels for referral and treatment. There are disparities in access to public services, with rural areas receiving fewer public services than the two largest cities of Brazzaville and PointeNoire. The Republic of Congo also faces multiple humanitarian challenges, including food insecurity, floods, epidemics and population displacement.