News

The EU-funded and Coginta-implemented Community Resilience Support Program (RESILIENCE), which supports community resilience through improved security and sustainable economic opportunities in eastern DRC, is entering a new phase. In Bunia, the newly selected candidates for the Congolese National Police have just undergone their medical examinations and are preparing to begin their initial six-month training at the recently renovated police academy.

These 600 new recruits will be progressively deployed along the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor, in the heart of the North Kivu and Ituri provinces where the RESILIENCE program is being implemented. The Green Corridor, a program launched by the DRC government in January 2025, envisions the creation of a 544,270 km² community-managed protected area, including a strategic corridor of over 300 kilometers linking Lubero to Mambasa. The recruits' role will include improving road security, ensuring a physical presence in priority economic hubs, and strengthening trust with the private sector and various economic stakeholders in the region (businesses, traders, farmers, etc.).

This initiative is also part of a broader vision, aligned with the European Union's Global Gateway approach, which aims to foster sustainable development by strengthening infrastructure, governance, and public services. In this context, security is seen as essential for opening up the region and revitalizing local economic activity. By consolidating the territorial network of police forces and professionalizing the officers responsible for protecting the population, the program helps create a more stable and predictable environment for economic actors and communities.

Coginta's approach is also based on a central principle: bringing security institutions closer to the populations they serve. By focusing on transparency in recruitment, training for personnel, and respect for fundamental rights, the initiative aims to strengthen trust between citizens and public institutions. This relationship of trust is a crucial lever for encouraging the voluntary return of displaced populations, supporting the resumption of trade, and fostering the reconstruction of the local economy.

Thus, beyond training new police officers, the RESILIENCE program helps lay the foundations for stronger local governance and lasting stability. By securing these territories marked by insecurity and population displacement, by strengthening the state's presence, and by supporting economic activity along this strategic axis—particularly in key urban centers—it contributes to creating the conditions necessary for inclusive development and a sustainable improvement in the living conditions of the populations of eastern DRC.