About_Us

The Congolese Agency for Development and Social Welfare

Established on October 4th 2003, through the initiatives of Congolese expatriates now residing in Montreal having taken to heart the disastrous situation in their birth land, the ACDS is the incarnation of their desire to contribute in a positive and effective manner to the social welfare and development efforts in their homeland, the DR of CONGO. This structure, apolitical by design, accepts anyone who adheres or sympathises with its objectives.

Dear Sir, Madame,

The «Agence Congolaise pour le Développement et la Sécurité Sociale (ACDS)», is a non-profit organisation whose principal mandate is to assist and sustain the national reconstruction efforts and the socio-economic development activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR of CONGO).

Based in Kinshasa with an international corollary in Montreal, the ACDS is a NGO operating in the field aimed at the most fragile and dispossessed populations in all regions of the Democratic Congo. Concretely, the ACDS has a mission of promoting the economic and social development of the DR of CONGO through the empowerment of the Congolese woman, specifically her aptitudes and role.

Thus has the ACDS the ambition of effectively assisting the participation and integration of Congolese women in the process of development and economic growth by supporting their activities in the field for the social well being of their compatriots.

Furthermore, the ACDS undertakes to assume a leading role in promoting the reconstruction of a dignified and equitable socio-economic life through the instauration of basic infrastructures responding to community needs as well as social emergencies in the DRC.

Also, within the context of international cooperation, the ACDS intends to participate in the establishment of relations or partnerships in commercial, technological, scientific exchanges as well as in cultural matters between the DD of CONGO and any other institution or country.

Nationally, the ACDS offers the framework for the reinforcement of the bonds of social solidarity and brotherhood between Congolese so as to foster social development through local expertise.

Within its programme, the ACDS only contemplates realistic solutions pertaining to social issues. As for resources, the ACDS relies exclusively upon contributions from its members, partnerships, and mostly upon the determination, the solidarity and the various expertise in house, in the service of a common cause: the socio-economic renaissance of the DR of CONGO.

We would be pleased to supply any additional information pertaining to our organisation as you may require to further your decision making process.

In the hope that this is the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration, please accept Mr. / Mrs. our heartfelt gratitude,
Sincerely,

Jeanne-Marie SINDANI P.

President & General Director
presidence@acds.cd
.............................................................................................................................
ACDS- Social Development and Human Security in the DRC (pages under construction)
…………………………………………………………………………………………
CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DRC

For over centuries, the DRC and its people have endured a succession of events painful enough to warrant serious reflection and compel us to seek concrete solutions to improve this state of affairs. Correspondingly, a great majority of the Congolese elite, at the heart of the diaspora as well as in the DRC, recognizes the importance of peace and of the geopolitical, economic and strategic role that the DRC represents specifically in the region and more generally on the international level. Peace, security, as well as regional stability and social development in central Africa and in the Great Lake region must first have their foundations in the DRC, or simply will not take place.

The great majority of the Congolese people are aware of the situation and want to take part in the process of national reconstruction. In accordance with these new perspectives, the ACDS wants to contribute to the reinforcement of the social conscience that is endowed with the power to act, to educate, and to raise awareness among social and political actors, in the DRC as well as on the international level, in order to defend human rights, national rights and international rights in this country where violence, grave violations of basic rights and impunity have a tradition that is both scandalous and unsurpassed in the history of mankind. These are the factors cited most frequently to be at the heart of the underdevelopment, social decadence and human insecurity of the DRC.

To break this cruel, vicious cycle, the ACDS, through its programs, wants to contribute and participate in the set up of activities and strategies to prevent and fight the human insecurity in the DRC. The ACDS wants to work toward social security and reconcile and defend the national and universal values of our time for collective well-being in the DRC.

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE DRC

THE CASE OF THE SOUTH KIVU PROVINCE
Democratic Republic of Congo

The South Kivu Province Civil Society is one of the eleven societies structured as an Office of Provincial Coordination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the collection of these provincial coordinations that forms the “National Civil Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

The structure of each Office of Coordination naturally takes into account the uniqueness and distinct local realities in the associative movement of each province.

Alongside its people, the Civil Society of South Kivu recently courageously and patriotically dedicated itself to the battle and fierce resistance to the aggression and illegal occupation of the territories in the east of the Congo by troops from neighbouring countries, that is, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, that took place from 1998 to 2003.

As a counterweight to power and against power, whatever it may be, the Civil Society is not, in itself, on a quest for power. Nevertheless, the leaders of the Civil Society have to be capable of addressing the country’s social, economic, political and security issues. To do this, they perpetually have to be attentive to the support base that they represent.

Inevitably and irrefutably, the Civil Society remains a privileged partner of the State, with which it maintains horizontal relations for the superior interest of the Nation. To this effect, the Civil Society can not be an instrument of propaganda at the disposal of those in power, whoever they may be. That is why all the Civil Society’s leaders and directors called to occupy a governmental position, or that of a leader of a political party, and who accept it, are immediately considered as outgoing from the associative movement. Hence they cannot claim to become Leaders of the Civil Society again, even after the cessation of their new political functions.

Nevertheless, for the period of transition underway in the Congo since June 30th, 2003, at the request of a population that was abandoned and abused by the politicians and the State in place at the time, the Civil Society’s delegates are among the members nominated for posts in all institutions, in order to make heard the aspirations of the masses, who were oppressed by dubious and corrupt politicians as well as criminal belligerents and torturers, and continue until the present to be at the service of obscure, foreign interests.

In spite of this quite exceptional and specific situation, the leaders and directors of the Civil Society at all levels who are not engaged in politics continue to assume their traditional, sacred mission and remain vigilant. Hence, the leaders of the Civil Society are a real link between the Base (the people) and the Power at the top of the State.

In South Kivu, the Civil Society is a coalition of non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations that are truly Congolese and on the ground in the province, where they operate solely with the well-being of the population in mind.

The Office of Provincial Coordination of the Civil Society of South Kivu is composed of democratically elected members, chosen by the General Assembly. Their mandate runs for four years, is renewable and gratuitous.

The officially approved member organizations of the Civil Society are grouped in ten sections, some of which created one or more platforms among them.

These sections are as follows:

The group of Developmental Associations (Platforms: CHAIN OF SOLIDARITY, CODA, CRONGD, FILADER, etc…)

The group of Women’s Associations

Youth Associations and Organizations

Group of University and Research Associations

Associations that promote and defend Human Rights

The Group of Employers’ Associations

The Group of Trade Unions and Corporations

The Group of Humanitarian and Charitable Organizations

The Group of Sports and Leisure Associations

The group of recognized religious groups (Catholic, Protestant, Kimbangist, and the Muslim community)

Placed on top of this pyramid of different sections, one can find the Office of Provincial Coordination. This Office has a sacred mission to preserve, promote, and spread the democratic tradition. To this effect it is:

· the spokesman of the Civil Society as a whole
· the principal leader of the Civil Society
· the coordinator of the sections’ activities
· the Civil Society’s advocate, accomplishing the mission of lobbying

The grassroots committees of the Civil Society play the same role as administrative entities on the base level, that is, in the territories, districts and cities.

II. Social Development in the DRC

One of the fundamental principles and objectives of the ACDS is undoubtedly the social development in the DRC, with a major focus on the role of the Congolese woman. Being the mother and first teacher of Congolese youth, the woman constitutes the junction point around which revolves all familial and social dynamic. Therefore, social security, and the active participation of the Congolese woman in the process of national reconstruction, represent the essential elements for the development of the DRC.

In the post-war context, ACDS favours an analytical approach centred on critical reflection and based on the stakes of human security in the DRC, in order to present a dialectic aiming to elaborate paths to pertinent solutions improving the living and survival conditions of Congolese women, who are victims, of violence in all its forms, on the one hand, and of the post-war societal reorganization, on the other.