Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KINSHASA154
2006-01-30 13:12:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

FY06 SPECIAL SELF-HELP FUND ALLCATION REQUEST

Tags:  ECON EAID CG DEM 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS KINSHASA 000154 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO AF/EPS CAROL TRIMBLE.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID CG DEM
SUBJECT: FY06 SPECIAL SELF-HELP FUND ALLCATION REQUEST

REF: A. 05 STATE 1255

B. 5 STATE 1179

C. 05 STATE 1857

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000154

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO AF/EPS CAROL TRIMBLE.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID CG DEM
SUBJECT: FY06 SPECIAL SELF-HELP FUND ALLCATION REQUEST

REF: A. 05 STATE 1255

B. 5 STATE 1179

C. 05 STATE 1857


1. (U) Embssy Kinshasa requests $82,500 in FY06 Special
Self-Help Funds (SSHF) (reftel a).

JUSTIFICATION
--------------
Embassy Kinshasa's seletion committe has chosen nine
projects for FY06 SSHF, each o which will be directly
overseen by a mission oficer and the SSHF funding
coordinator. Post has an outstanding record of financial
management of SHF -- all prior year projects have been
successully completed, and our 2005 Interim Obligation
tatus Report and Annual Status Report have been submitted
(reftels b and c). Civil unrest and subsequent embassy
drawdown and evacuation led to dramatic SSHF cuts the past
several years, but Embassy Kinshasa is now ready and able to
return to pre-1999 funding levels consistent with the size
and political importance of the country.

BACKGROUND
--------------


3. (U) The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),a nation as
large as the United States east of the Mississippi, is just
emerging from decades of dictatorship, war, and humanitarian
catastrophe. The DRC will take a major step toward democracy
when the Congolese go to the polls this spring for the first
free, national elections since 1960. The stability of the
entire region, DRC and its nine neighbors, rests on its
successful transition from a conflict that has been the
deadliest since World War II. The need for American
assistance to targeted groups is great, and Embassy Kinshasa
has the capacity and will to support the DRC in the face of
the most important democratic transition in a generation.

PROJECTS
--------------


4. (U) The following nine projects are located in three
historically underserved provinces (Bandundu, Equateur, and
Eastern Kasai),in the troubled and crisis-prone province of
Katanga, and in two poorer neighborhoods in the capital,
Kinshasa. Two of the nine projects support the Congolese in
their fight against HIV/AIDS, one of our post's key Mission
Program Plan goals.


A. Association des Jeune Volontaires d'Essoy'Afongo
(Association of Young Volunteers of Essoy'Afongo),Equateur
Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 635
Description: A village cooperative would like to aid their
community by improving agricultural production in the region.

The population is extremely poor and lacks money for even
basic gardening tools; roads have deteriorated such that the
river is the only means of transportation; and the people
have resorted to poaching to stay alive. Four villages have
come together to encourage agricultural production and
decrease poaching. Funds will be used to purchase gardening
tools, seed, and canoes.
Request: $8,300


B. Center Balou Pour Personnes Avec Handicap Mental (Balou
Center for the Mentally Disabled),Katanga Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 126
Description: The center educates the mentally disabled in
various manual skills. Funds will be used to construct a
workshop for these boys and girls on center-owned property.
Request: $5,000


C. Centre d'Education Fonctionnelle Pour Les Enfants Demunis
(Functional Education Center for Underprivileged Children),
Katanga Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 1,200
Description: The Education Center, located in a low-income
commune of Lubumbashi, fills many educational needs for the
community: schooling for primary and secondary-level
students, evening classes for young women, sewing and
knitting classes, reading classes for older women, and typing
classes for youth. Funds will be used to purchase benches
for the school and basic medical equipment for expanded
health care capabilities.
Request: $10,550


D. Club d'Esperance pour Les Enfants (Hope Club for
Children),Katanga Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 100
Description: This established group wants to aid HIV victims
in becoming self-sufficient in the Kasapa community of
Lubumbashi. Funds will be used to purchase school supplies,
farming implements, and seeds.
Request: $5,000


E. Ecole Primaire Hebrone (Hebrone Primary School),Kinshasa
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 300
Description: A reputable primary school on the outskirts of
Kinshasa has worked for two years making cement bricks to
construct a school building in a low-income,
high-unemployment community, a necessity now that it has
outgrown its current building and is in the process of adding
a secondary school section. Funds will be used to construct
the building.
Request: $11,500


F. Foundation Pour le Developpement de Mokamo (Foundation for
the Development of Mokamo),Bandundu Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 300
Description: This foundation has planted a large palm
plantation which they have given to the local population in
an effort to fight unemployment. The farmers are responsible
for cultivating and harvesting the palm nuts which they sell
to the foundation. The trees are in excellent condition and
will soon be ready to harvest. Funds will be used to
purchase necessary cultivation tools (machetes, shovels,
wheelbarrows, hoes, and bicycles),as years of unemployment
have made it difficult for farmers to earn enough to acquire
tools.
Request: $9,800


G. La Vie Pour Tous (Life for All),Kinshasa
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 1100
Description: This organization, which has been renting
property in a low-income part of the city, has purchased land
for an educational center for people affected by HIV. Funds
will be used to construct the building.
Request: $17,600


H. Lycee Okako Awoto (Okako Awoto High School),Eastern Kasai
Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 500
Description: A group of Catholic sisters would like to repair
a girls dorm, which was damaged by the war. The families of
many students live far from the school and, without
dormitories, the students cannot attend. Funds will repair
the walls, roof, doors, and windows of the building.
Request: $9,700


I. Universite Methodiste au Katanga (Methodist University of
Katanga),Katanga Province
Estimated number of beneficiaries: 25
Description: The university needs a computer room for student
instruction. They have computers, bricks, and funds to cover
construction labor. Funds will be used to purchase materials
for the roof, cement, and electrical installation.
Request: $5,000
MEECE


NNNN