Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

The funds (MAEE/AFD) that France devotes bilaterally to the DRC have picked up progressively since the end of the civil war.

Ms. Girardin’s visit to Kinshasa on 24 March 2007 allowed for the signing of a five-year Framework Partnership Document (DCP) (2007- 2011), concentrating our actions in the areas of education, protection of the environment and biodiversity and health. Actions are also continuing in the fields of governance (support for financial administration and the establishment of rule of law), French instruction (the DRC is the leading French-speaking country in the world and a €5M project was launched in this sector in 2008), cultural diversity and support for civil society.

Our cooperation system focuses on support for ending the crisis and the reconstitution of strategic administrative capacities.

French as a World language, Teaching, Culture: Looking to Kinshasa 2012

In 2012, Kinshasa will host the Francophonie Summit. This time frame guides our actions in this area.

The key French cooperation project, called SESAM, supports the mastery and use of French in the DRC. Totalling 5 million euros (over five years), it aims to set up a permanent system to teach and disseminate the French language, through the production of pedagogical tools, the creation of decentralized teachers’ colleges and thus the creation of regional language and culture centres built around Franco-Congolese alliances and French cultural centres and spaces bringing together intermediary players (schools, radio, libraries, etc.).

The project is developing a website presenting its actions (http://www.sesam.cd/site/).

The DRC has two cultural centres: the Halle de la Gombe (http://www.ccf-kinshasa.org) in Kinshasa and the Halle de l’Etoile in Lubumbashi.

The Lycée Français René Descartes in Kinshasa has been in existence since 1964. It is approved by the Agency for French Teaching Abroad. The Lycée Blaise Pascal in Lubumbashi re-opened in September 2009. These institutions offer education from nursery school through the final year of secondary school and boast a total of almost 850 students.

A large network of Alliances françaises , with a status of associations governed by local law, is currently being reactivated with a view to covering many of the country’s urban areas.

Updated on 06.06.11