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	OTI / Democratic Republic of Congo Home USAID in Democratic Republic of Congo USAID Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Bureau U.S. Embassy Radio Okapi video (English) Program Summary English version Version française Country Reports Select a report... December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002   Fact Sheets TAP 2005 Version française CFR 2005 Version française Success Stories Select a story... February 2006 February 2006 February 2006 November 2005 November 2005 October 2005 October 2005 October 2005 September 2005 September 2005 August 2005 August 2005 July 2005 July 2005 June 2005 June 2005 June 2005 May 2005 March 2005 January 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 September 2004 June 2004 April 2004
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USAID/OTI DROC Hot Topics

October 2005

Information on the Spot

The Aru Internet Center plays a key role in informing citizens on local issues, and information boards serve as newspapers.

Poor road and communications infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo isolates towns located at considerable distance from provincial and regional administrative centers. One such town is Aru in Ituri District in northeast DRC, about 380 km from Bunia, the administrative center. Aru has an estimated 200,000 inhabitants. The site of heavy fighting during the nation's conflict, Aru hosted one of the disarmament and reintegration centers for ex-combatants. Despite its importance in the DRC, a lack of communication and physical infrastructure means that Aru's population often has stronger ties to nearby Uganda than to the DRC. Many citizens are more aware of developments in Uganda than in their own country.

The opening of the Aru Internet Center has helped to provide citizens with information on the transition in the DRC. The center is run by a management committee of the Civil Society Platform, which gathers representatives of nongovernmental organizations based in Aru. In addition to serving as the main source of information for communities, the center is also used for computer training. Of particular note, the center recently played a key role in the election registration process. It trained over 350 of the approximately 500 people who needed to learn computer skills to work the elections registration machines. These people were trained very quickly and were immediately dispatched to voter registration sites throughout the region. Some of the center's trainees saw the benefits of the computer program: The Independent Election Commission hired them because of their new computer skills.

The Synergie d’Education Communautaire et d’Appui (SE*CA) program promotes improved stability in war-affected areas by facilitating the reintegration of war-affected youths into their communities and increasing local, regional and national understanding of issues that are key to the political transition. To support these objectives, SE*CA uses three tools: 1) a youth education and skills program to train war-affected youths in agriculture, civic education, health, conflict management, reconciliation, personal values, numeracy, and literacy; 2) a media program that supports access to information concerning issues key to the transition; and 3) an in-kind small-grants program that supports information dissemination projects and community-identified activities that are a priority for the community’s economic, political, and/or social revitalization of the community.