Republic of the Congo

January 2017: Meeting in GVA with Vero and Gisela. He is with the mission only since July and had not heard about the process. He thought this request was timely considering the current situation in the Pool Department (his region) as, due to the violence between the ex-ninjas combatants and the government forces, children are not able to go to school safely. (He did not know whether schools were being used.) Again the Addis workshop and toolkit attracted his attention. He asked questions about the endorsement process and seemed keen to follow up.

August 2017: He had prepared after our last visit a lengthy file that he sent to the capital a while ago. Vero met with the representative of Congo had recommended that an expert from the MoE goes to BA, it was the Directrice Generale de l’Education, as the Minister could not go. But she had some visa problems. The documents are now in Brazzaville and he has no influence on the authorities; decision-making responsibility is with the Department des Affaires Multilaterales. He hopes that the new Ambassador of the mission in Geneva will be step up the pressure. Save the Children UK met with the Mission of the Republic of Congo in Geneva, who pledged to make a positive recommendation to capital, and GCPEA followed up in writing. GCPEA issued letters to the Ministers of Education and Foreign Affairs of Republic of Congo to encourage endorsement. Human Rights Watch issued a dispatch regarding a crackdown on university student protectors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Watchlist, in their August newsletter, called on the Security Council to urge all parties to conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to immediately cease attacks on health centers and schools, as well as military use of schools in line with the government’s July 2016 endorsement of the Declaration.

November 2022: On 6 December, Nevena met with Mr. Jules César Botokou Eboko, Minister Counsellor at the Geneva mission (following Congo’s recent endorsement to the SSD). He was eager to know how GCPEA can support his country following the endorsement. Nevena shared with him recommendations on how they can implement the SSD at the national level, and encouraged his country’s participation in the Implementation Network. He also said that they would like to be part of the core group on the SSD in Geneva, and be more active on this issue. Nevena encouraged his Mission to discuss endorsement of the SSD with their counterparts from Gabon.