Challenges Our Knowledge Publishing Challenges in Implementing the Water Law in the DRC Paperback

Since 2016, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has had a water law in place, against a backdrop in which the management of this sector faces serious challenges related to leadership, the capacity of the actors responsible for implementing it, relative underfunding, and confusion over the roles of central and provincial agencies and decentralized local entities, which are responsible for project management. The main challenges stem from the near absence of experienced personnel at various levels of the administrative hierarchy, as the country has operated for decades under a system of excessive centralization, with very little autonomy for territorial entities that are theoretically decentralized and lack the necessary resources to fulfill their roles. Other challenges include potential conflicts of interest between decentralized entities and the managers of state-run agencies that have operated as monopolies in the public water sector-whose performance falls far short of meeting the growing needs of a predominantly young population. Implementing the law requires innovative solutions, achieved through strategic guidance and proven leadership.