Factors limiting the gains of MDGs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo : KEY DETERMINANT

he Human Development Index in 2013 ranked Democratic Republic of the Congo 186th out of 187 in the United Nations Development Programme. The categorization came as a result of the deteriorating conflict that pushed the country towards a failed state realm. According to the 2015 Fragility Index of the PeaceFund, Democratic Republic of the Congo was among the nations ranked on the high alert (highly vulnerable and volatile), consequently to as a result of non-provision of basic services. In addition to the deteriorating growth and development trajectory, infrastructural and systems failures have unabatedly limited service provision, resulting in inadequacies in humanitarian interventions. The study aims to evaluate the gains of MDGs in Democratic Republic of the Congo, taking into cognizance key deliverables, pitfalls, and prospects for development in fragile states. The study uses thematic reviews cushioned with elements of quantitative approach in providing answers to the study. On surface value, the study shows that 72% of rural households live in abject poverty. Additionally, more than 40% of children in rural areas suffer from chronic malnutrition, hunger and squalor. The study contends that without sustainable public institutions, systems and structure in the administration of services, DRC could likely remain in unending retrogression.


Introduction
MDGs framework for accountability derived from the declaration that has generated an unprecedented level of global commitment.All the eight goals are, in fact, interrelated.
Each one has some precursor for achieving the other and together has tremendous potential for fueling growth.MDGs arguably have given us one last chance to make this world beautiful.Let's harness it to the fullest.
In September 2000, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) joined in the World summit that adopted the international agenda of the United Nations premised on its Millennium Declaration.That gave rise to the eight goals, referred to as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in a bid to accelerate development in the world's poor nations (Amin, 2006).In the Summit represented by 188 Heads of State plus the DRC, the Heads of State signed the pact towards a commitment in fulfilling the eight Millennium Development Goals: "eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development" by 2015 (UN, 2015).The onus of meeting these goals fell on the shoulders of individual member states likewise DRC (UN, 2015).

Contextual Background
Congo, unlike most African nations, began the implementation of the MDGs as at when it was proposed in 2001 by the Kabila regime.By 2003, 54% of children between the ages of 12 and 23 months were immunized.49% had received some form of DPT3 immunizations. 1 55% and 45% of infants had received immunization against tuberculosis and measles respectively.11% of the children received lifesaving oral rehydration therapy as deemed necessary. 2This singular move brought about the decline in the rate of polio from 79% to 41%, and tuberculosis from 91% to 51%.Furthermore, 14% of under-five children had moderate malnutrition as against severe and absolute cases, while 19% suffered from moderate to severe stunting.Free and compulsory education increased the enrolment age gap which was pivotal to the 90.1% primary school enrolment recorded.Of http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/dr_congo verty-healthcare 2 UNICEF, " Congo, Republic," www.unicef.org (cited July 2005) Factors Limiting the Gains of MDGs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 641 note also is the fact that within the 3 years into the Millennium Declaration, 59% and 56% of males and females respectively were completing primary education, the rise of the literacy level from 83% to 89.6% for males and 78.4% for females (Purdy, 2006: 201-202).
However hopeful these facts are, it must be explicitly stated that the Congo had and still has great prospects towards meeting the development agenda of the UN, premised on its growing GDP and its enormous natural reserves.However, low life expectancy (48.97 years), excess mortality rates (20.7 years), low population growth (37% below 14 years and 3.7% over 65), instability and conflict (39.3% of the population) do not stand a favourable chance of celebrating their 40th birthday),3 ineffectual institutions and capacity that strains government resources.More so, it is "estimated that 75% of the people live in absolute poverty and 41% live in inhumane poverty" (World Bank, 2005, CIA, 2005). 4  From the foregoing therefore, it means according to records that almost 1:3 of the population suffers from malnutrition.That is, that nearly one-third of all Congolese suffer from malnutrition (REf).It was also found that an estimated 1.3 million people in this country live with HIV/AIDS, and 100,000 deaths occurred from its complication (UNICEF, 2005;Social Watch, 2005).As indicated by the PeaceFund (2015), DRC is highly vulnerable and volatile; the country is at a high risk of developing waterborne and food diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid fever, vector borne diseases like malaria, hepatitis A, and Congo-Crimea hemorrhagic fever (Central Intelligence Agency, 2005).Also, infant mortality was put at 81 deaths per 1,000 births and trained healthcare practitioners are likely not present in 61% of all births.5Consequently, 108 children die before they turn 5 years.Furthermore, 31% of children less than 5 years of age suffer from malnutrition (Odekon, 2006).And 9% of the 31% suffers from severe malnutrition and stunting.13% and 38% suffer from severe to moderate wasting and severe to moderate stunting respectively (United Nations, 2005;UNICEF, 2005

Service Provision
Services are the nucleus and at the epicentre of measuring government activity/ performance or inactivity/ non-performance, and a major feature behind failed and fragile states in global politics (Mcloughlin and Scott, 2014).A growing amount of knowledge has consistently portrayed the need for service provision in the attainment of development locally and internationally (WDR, 2004).Because, without sustainable services provided in the Congo it will be difficult even for a legitimate governance framework to be effective and efficient in a seared situation of service delivery.
Service provision is the most essential part of government business; for it is that machine that lubricates the promises of government in power, as well as establishing a linkage between governance and service provision in World Development Report 2004: "Making Services Work for Poor People."Where it was argued that when service due to citizens are substandard or broken down, undelivered, it is as a result of failures in the trajectory of accountability.For effectual and efficient service disbursement there is a high need to ensure what they called "accountability triangle" (WDR, 2004).Findings from Girishankar's paper in 1998, on the 'Unanswered Questions in Service Provision for Modernizing States,' published in Public Administration and Development, argues the need for revolutionary reforms in shaping service delivery sustainability issues in developing countries.And for developing countries especially Africa to attain effective service provision to its teeming population, there is a high need for an increasing private sector participation in service delivery (Girishankar, 1998)  7 .

Fragility
The concept and perception of fragility or fragile state defiles a universal developmental definition.However, there have been ample perceptions based on various indicators by development experts and analysts.According to Mcloughlin, Claire and Idris, Iffat of the GSDRC argues that most development agencies and commissions define fragility as a principal failure of a state in the provision of functions which are needed to meet the basic needs and expectation of its citizens (Mcloughlin & Idris, 2016: 5).According to the OECD, a single categorization of the concept will limit its understanding and perception.Since, It could be argued that weak state legitimacy is an integral component of a failing or failed state.States that fall short in the provision of basic services, shortage in meeting the expectations of the citizens, and also provide structures and procedures towards an equilibrium in resuscitating state-society (government-people) relations is on a lonely road to failed state.In congruence to this assertion, DFID (2005) sees fragility as "those (places and states) where the government cannot or will not deliver core functions to the majority of its people, including the poor".It was only in the works of CRISE ( 2009), that a much broader view of fragility was proposed; "failing, or at risk of failing, with respect to authority, comprehensive service entitlement or legitimacy.This definition encompasses most of the supplementary conceptions of fragile states as addressed by Bertoli and Ticci (2012), Stewart andBrown (2010), andGravingholt, Ziaja, andKrebaum (2012).In that, the definition took a swipe at the epicentre of service provision of entitlement and not the colloquial understanding of basic needs but needs per time.
However, Stewart and Brown (2010), gave a description of fragility in their work on 'Fragile States: CRISE Overview 3', where they described fragile state as a nation failing or at high alert of failing owing to three dimensions: service failure, resulting in deficiencies to ensure that all citizens have access to basic amenities; authority failure, is a situation whereby the state lacks the power and authority to protect its citizens from various kinds of violence; and legitimacy failure, a failure resulting from limited support among citizens and international organisations.Hence, the idea of fragility in the context of failing; is to ensure that the nation in question does not depreciate further by providing warning signals of potential quagmires that could be averted.

Global Agenda and Determinant of MDGs
The international agenda that permuted the scene in 2000, of which 147 Heads of States and 189 8 countries signed in fulfilling the missions of a UN development agenda known as MDGs has 8 goals, 18 targets and 48 indicators which are used to monitor and track changes in any given country (see figure 1).War in DRC as in other war-torn countries as Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq (today Syria), and Somalia has little or no potency towards development (Collier, 2004: 1) since war and conflict are surges that tear down fabrics of development rather than build them (Dike, nd).Consequently, the over two decades of conflict in the DRC amplified the Factors Limiting the Gains of MDGs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 649 landscape of insecurity, deficient human capacity, poor infrastructural agenda, deficit in human capital development, and ineffectual and inefficient public service that are incapacitated in providing services to communities in a manner that is sustainable.It is at these hills that the development agenda of the UN was ushered in the country.

Pitfalls of MDGs in Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Millennium Development Agenda was insensitive to several quagmires that plagued the DRC before the introduction of the agenda by year 2000.Services in the DRC were in shambles, the state of institutional support systems was non-existent, and legitimate central governance was far from reality.These were as a result of the war that saw the end of Mobutu Sese Seko's regime (32 years in office) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014); a war which resulted in multiple interventions from the UN Peacekeepers and nine African countries, and over twenty armed groups (McLaughlin & Woodside, 2004;Bowers, C. 2006.) and the death of over 5.4 million people (Bavier, 2008;Robinson, 2006;Coghlan, Benjamin, 2007).This led to the deployment of over 2,000 UN peacekeepers and humanitarian aid assistant agents to address various issues of conflict in the country to ensure peace and stability, in addition to the failed reconstruction process in the

Capitalist Globalisation
Both capitalism and globalization have continually suppressed the ingenuity of the African continent.But when merged, Marmolejo refers to it as a "supervillain duo" (Marmolejo, 2013).Marmolejo argues that the twin concepts are responsible for 'everything going wrong in our lives' (Marmolejo, 2013).This can be argued as the reason behind the depleting economy and chaos in Africa, in their (capitalism and globalization) puritanical form, capitalism entails private ownership of wealth and the means of production as seen in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations of 1776.Globalisation on the other hand, is described Factors Limiting the Gains of MDGs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 651 as the process encapsulating integration, interaction and unification of global systemscompanies, people, and governments in a cosmopolitan atmospheric enclave driven by international investors and trade policies, aided by information control and technology. 14  The exacerbating effects of these twin concepts have been disadvantageous to the continent and especially to regions and countries where there are large mineral and/ or raw material deposits like DRC.

Weak Trade
Trade is a critical element in the development discourse.China, Hong Kong, Dubai and India are some of the fastest growing economies of the world as a result of trade.
Production is key to development, but consumption on the other hand, is argued as a weakness of institutional and infrastructural governance framework to establish or attract both capital and entrepreneurs.This is a failure on the part of the DRC government in providing both peaceful atmosphere and a level playing ground for businesses to thrive, as one of the critical elements of any government is to provide peaceful and equal opportunities for people to compete favourably.

Human Rights Abuse
Human life is sacrosanct and something that should be cherished and respected.The foregoing resonates in us the popular saying that, "All animals are equal."If you stop there you are deceived, because the ensuing sentence reckoned in completion with a "but" and it read, "But some are more equal than the others" -Animal Farm.In the developing world, especially Africa and to be precise, the DRC, we saw animal farm tragedy repeated and perpetrated by vested powers that felt that the only sacrosanct life is theirs whereas the lives of other folks of different consanguinity matter not.This axiom was evident and boldly x-rayed in what is currently on going in the USA where white policemen have gone berserk, turning their guns on the hapless, helpless and vulnerable blacks.The irony is that, this is the so called "democracy" where all men are supposed to be equal and rights respected -the very nation that is at the forefront forcing down the throat of nations especially Africa, their system of governance that is fraught with hypocrisy and travesty.The brazen rape, murder, harassment, illegal detention without trial and the law and other sundry illegalities that took place under the watch of the western world and America proved that

Conclusion
The refused to abate is traceable to the existence of abundance of five major key mineral resources namely: diamonds, copper, cobalt, gold and coltan -which is a metallic ore (raw materials) used in the production of mobile phones and laptops.
According to the Guardian ( 2008), an investigation by the UN posits that as long as these minerals remain, there will remain continued conflict in the DRC.It is arguably so that the reason behind the lingering conflict in the Congo is basically the presence of oil (see oil curse) in the country.In sum, it is abundantly difficult and acutely impossible to either grow or fulfil the aspirations of the MDGs in DRC especially when the foreign government is complicit.Finally, there is a need for a multi-agency collaboration hence the increasing need of human service in fragile state.Taking into account its weak capacity, systems and structures, for the gains of development and the development agenda in the Congo, a tripartite alliance of multiagency, private sector, stakeholders, International Community and NGOs, and the government must establish a mechanism towards strengthening effectual delivery of services to final beneficiaries in a sustainable manner.
The government alone is at the moment not capable of providing effective service.

7
Pinto concurs to Girishankar's argument(See Pinto, R.F. 1998, 'Innovations in the  Provision of Public Goods and Services', Public Administration and Development, vol.18,  p.387-397)       Factors Limiting the Gains of MDGs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 643 diverse measures exist in the understanding and actual calibration various aspects of vulnerability and risk.Consequently, in the 2015 Fragility report, the agency proposed a multi-dimensional model in calibrating fragility premised on five clusters or indicators: violence; accountable, effective and inclusive institutions; accessibility of justice for all; stability and economic inclusion; and the human capacity to adapt and prevent economic, social, environment shocks and disasters(OECD, 2015; Mcloughlin & Idris, 2016: 5).

Figure
Figure 1: MDGs: Goals, Targets, and Monitoring Indicators Goals Targets Indicators Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger 1. Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day 9 2. Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty] 3. Share of poorest quintile in national consumption 4. Prevalence of underweight children under-five years of age 5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling 6.Net enrolment ratio in primary education 7. Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach grade 5 8. Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015 Rich in natural resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has enormous economic and social potential.Nevertheless, little has been done to develop this potential for the benefit of the Congolese people, and so extreme poverty persists throughout the country despite ongoing macroeconomic growth.According to the United Nations Development Programme's 2014 Human Development Index, the DRC ranked 186 out of 187 countries, and approximately 87.7 percent of the Congolese were living on less than US$1.25 per day (CIDA, 2016).

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rehabilitation and reintegration attempts of postwar rebels in the DRC.Several pitfalls exist that plagued the non-performance of DRC in achieving the aims of the Millennium Declaration.These pitfalls range from social, political, economic, cultural, institutional and infrastructural.Without the fulfillment of the first: political stability, institutional and infrastructural development is only wishful thinking.And the realization of the MDGs will remain an illusion.The Agenda failed abysmally to take into cognizance the deficiencies of individual countries.For instance, DRC is a nation where,  "6.7 million hungry people live in five conflict-affected provinces in the eastern part of the country;  Almost half of the country's children under five are stunted (short for their age);  Twenty-three percent of children under the age of five and 14 percent of women are underweight;  Due to on-going conflict in the DRC and the nearby region, there are 2.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 120,000 refugees in the country;  Between 2013-2014, 1.8 million IDPs have returned to their areas of origin, finding that their houses, schools and possessions had been looted or destroyed;  Three million children under five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition; 650 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review  Forty-seven percent of children under the age of five and 38 percent of women suffer from anaemia;  More than half a million pregnant or breastfeeding women suffer from acute malnutrition; The highest percentage of food insecure people (64 percent) can be found in the agricultural sector, which accounts for three-quarters of the country's total workforce; In 2014, WFP assisted nearly 1.8 million vulnerable people in the DRC" (WFP, 2016).In congruence to the assertion of the World Food Programme of the UN, the IMF (2012) further elaborated the height and depth of poverty in the country, "the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has one of the highest incidences of poverty in the world...DRC is #1 out of 11 top poor countries in the world (2014).At a rate of 71.34, its incidence of poverty is "extremely high," even in comparison with other central African countries.However, this poverty is not evenly distributed.The IMF estimates that poverty is more prevalent in rural areas (75.72%) than in urban areas (61.49%), while the provinces of Équateur, Bandundu and Sud-Kivu have a poverty incidence of over 85% compared to Kinshasa's 42%."These challenges were not considered and measured towards the realization of the 8 goals, 18 (20) targets and 48 (60) indicators goals were not proffered by the UN nor did the UN engage in consultation with country in framing these goals, targets, and indicators.Other factors inhibiting development and the gains of the MDGs are, weak capacity, institutions, and systems; weak trade; human right abuse and capitalist globalization.
mortality rate for children younger than five years old (104 individuals per 1,000 live births in 2011) and the maternal mortality rate (846 per 100,000 live births in 2013) remain among the highest in the world.People continue to be displaced and sexual violence against women and girls remains a problem.As of March 31, 2014, there were more than 2,635,000 internally displaced persons in the DRC.According to the Freedom House (2015), "Political corruption, weak rule of law, and violence remained prevalent in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)."It must be noted that nations world over are built by their productive capacity.It could be argued that trade and services are the oil that lubricates the engine and wheels of economics in developed societies.Therefore, it could be argued that the prosperity of DR Congo is in consonance with how profits from the goods and services produced are redistributed among members of the country.In the face of the convulsion, miasma and decadence precipitated by war, it has been difficult for investors to plunge huge resources in a fragile state as DRC.The country has mainly witnessed much of mine merchants filling the country with informal workers.The conundrum according the Guardian (2008), has Factors Limiting the Gains of MDGs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 653 ). 6 642 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review 652 Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review they were not sincere and keen about the MDGs successes.MDGs cannot thrive under a corrupt and repressive government.Reason is because most African nations like DRC are harbinger of brazen lawlessness in cahoots with their foreign collaborators who look away as long as it suits their interests.Humanitarianism can only be human.When we lend alms and there is no one to earn it, it means nothing.Humanitarianism in the face of repression keeps everyone in abeyance, indifferent and aloof.A nation is run by its people of which the majority that constitutes the work force that could bring change are the youths who are hounded.When an organization or its agents as constituted like the UN resorts to racketeering, drug peddling, child abuse, sex trafficking and prostitution, it is then foolhardy to believe the workability of MDGs proposals with its preachment for development and better life for the poor.MDGs become a hoax where nepotism is rife and is the bed rock in areas of job or political 14 http://www.globalization101.org/what-is-globalization/appointments.Where it is a case of "who do you know" as against "what can you offer."Such lopsided cronyism where men of higher echelons appoint themselves, their cousins, party faithful, government loyalists, hack men, spies and what have you, are pure man's inhumanity to man, corruption, violations and rights abuse.