The Congolese government aligns itself with the Dakar commitments in favor of girls

At the Cabinet meeting on Friday, October 17, 2025, the government took note of the commitments made by the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Summit of Girls from West and Central Africa, held in Dakar. The Minister of State, Minister of National Education and New Citizenship, Raïssa Malu, presented a briefing note on the subject. This summit resulted in the Dakar Declaration, in which girls from 24 countries call for an action plan accompanied by accountability mechanisms.

“This summit marked a major political milestone, reaffirming that investing in girls is a high-return economic and societal investment, not merely a social expenditure. In the Dakar Declaration, girls from 24 countries call for an action plan accompanied by direct accountability mechanisms and a commitment from each government to increase the visibility of public spending allocated to girls; to institutionalize gender-responsive budget monitoring, in order to strengthen the DRC’s leadership,” states the meeting’s report.

The Congolese government is invited to endorse the principle and framework of a national program that includes a detailed roadmap of priority investments and the introduction of a cross-cutting budget code in the 2027 budget classification. Minister of State Raïssa Malu also proposed mobilizing technical and financial partners around a joint financing pact for adolescent girls, with a view to ensuring the program’s coherence and sustainability. She called for the approval of immediate action to make these commitments a national priority, supported by traceable funding. Willy Kambulu