Key facts

Where UK bilateral aid goes - pie chart showing bilateral aid spending in DRC (2008/09)

Facts about DRC

Population: 61.7 million (UN Development Programme (UNDP), 2007).
Average life expectancy: 46 years (UNDP, 2007). UK: 78 years (UN Statistics Division (UNSD), 2007).
Average per capita income: US$281 (purchasing power parity (PPP)) (World Development Indicators (WDI), 2006). UK: US$33,800 (PPP) (WDI, 2007).
Gross national income (GNI): US$17.88 billion (PPP) (WB, 2007).
Average annual growth rate: 6.5% (WB, 2007).
Percentage of people not meeting daily food needs: 74% (WB, 2007).
Women dying in childbirth: 1,100 per 100,000 live births (UNDP, 2007). UK: 13 per 100,000 (UNSD, 2007).
Children dying before age 5: 205 per 1,000 live births (UNDP, 2007). UK: 6 per 1,000 (UNSD, 2005).
Percentage of children receiving getting primary school education: 54% (UNDP, 2007).
Percentage of people aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS: 3.2% (UNDP, 2007). UK: 0.2% (UNSD, 2005).
Percentage of people with access to safe, clean water: 46% (UNDP, 2007).
Total UK aid received (2008/09): £99.6m (Source: Statistics for International Development 2009)

Progress towards Millennium Development Goals

DRC is a long way from meeting any of the Millennium Development Goals. In addition, robust statistics are generally unavailable so any progress there has been is difficult to track.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Progress on poverty reduction depends on peace and security being consolidated across DRC’s enormous territory.

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education
No up-to-date information about the progress of education (or lack of it) in the DRC is available.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
The DRC is severely off-track in meeting this goal: as of 2003, 22% fewer girls than boys were enrolled in primary education, and this gap widened in secondary education, with 42% fewer girls enrolled. Only 12% of seats in the national parliament are held by women.

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
The DRC is also severely off-track in meeting this MDG: in 2005, deaths of children under the age of 5 numbered 205 per 1,000 live births, the same rate as in 1990.

MDG 5: Improve maternal health
The DRC is unlikely to achieve this goal: in 2005, it was estimated that, for every 100,000 live births, 1,100 women died shortly before, during or shortly after childbirth.

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
With 3.2% of the population aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS, it is unlikely that the DRC will achieve this MDG.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
It is highly unlikely that the DRC will meet this goal: in 2004, only 46% of households had access to clean water, and only 30% had adequate sanitation.

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development
An element of this MDG is access to communications technology. Between 2002 and 2006, the number of people in the DRC with a mobile phone subscription rose from 1.06 per 100 to 7.44.

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