October, 2025, DRC - Erick Majanama (Tunafasi Program Manager ADED)
Since 2019, disability inclusion efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been largely shaped by the National Community-Based Rehabilitation Program (PNRBC), coordinated by the National Ministry of Health in DRC. While the PNRBC was an important step, it placed disability almost exclusively within the health sector. Provincial coordination was managed by the Health Division, and local implementation was assigned to Health Zones in policy; however, in practice, implementation remained largely absent.
For programs such as the DPRP/Tunafasi program of ADED in Eastern DRC (Uvira, Goma, Baraka, and most recently Bukavu), this structure created several limitations. Health zones became the primary agreement managers and the official entry points for collaboration, which often resulted in the program being perceived as a health initiative rather than a multisector inclusion effort. Activities related to education, livelihoods, social empowerment and prevention were less recognized and more difficult to advocate for, and municipalities or decentralized entities—Communes (neighborhood level)—were not positioned as duty-bearers because disability coordination remained within the health system.
A New Policy Landscape in DRC
In recent years, important legislative and policy developments have significantly broadened the country’s approach towards disability inclusion (on policy level). The adoption of the Organic Law 22/003 in 2022 established a national legal basis for the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities. The government also created the Delegated Ministry for Persons with Disabilities and its National Secretariat to guide policy direction.
Two major decrees adopted in 2024 further strengthened the enabling environment:
- New accessibility standards for public infrastructure
- Mandatory employment quotas: 5% of public jobs and 3% of private-sector positions reserved for persons with disabilities
In 2025, the Council of Ministers approved the National Policy and the 2025–2030 Strategy for the Empowerment and Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. This new strategy introduces a multisector coordination framework and mandates the creation of provincial disability divisions and municipal disability focal points. For the first time, disability inclusion is formally recognized and positioned as a cross-cutting governance responsibility—not only a health-sector concern.
Lessons learned from the National Community Based Rehabilitation Program (PNRBC) Era
Several challenges emerged during the implementation of the DPRP/Tunafasi DRC program under the PNRBC policy framework:
- Sector bias: Disability inclusion was understood primarily as a health matter, with limited integration of inclusive education, economic livelihoods, prevention, and social participation.
- Coordination gap: Municipalities and other sectors were sidelined, which limited holistic disability inclusion.
- Narrow program framing: Because agreements were signed with health zones, many stakeholders assumed Tunafasi was a health project, making advocacy for the other CBR pillars more difficult.
This together made the advocacy for the Tunafasi program, focusing on all CBR pillars, more challenging, as the other pillars (education, economic livelihoods, social participation) were less recognized by the government and community stakeholders.
New Opportunities for ADED and Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs)
The emergence of a national multisector national disability strategy opens important new pathways for ADED and other OPDs in DRC:
1. Municipalities as New Entry Points: Under the new strategy, municipalities—Entités Territoriales Décentralisées (ETDs)—will become the main agreement managers for disability initiatives. Health, education, and social affairs departments will co-sign agreements. This model is already being piloted, with support of ADED, in Bagira Commune in Bukavu, since November 2024.
2. Prospects for Municipal Budget Allocations: As decentralization advances, municipalities will be able to allocate a percentage of their budgets to disability inclusion—an important opportunity for sustainability.
3. Stronger Multisector Anchoring: Disability is no longer seen as primarily health-related. It now spans education, employment, social protection, and governance, aligning closely with the Tunafasi model’s holistic approach.
4. Stronger Role for Community Based Rehabilitation Facilitators (CBRFs): CBRFs will continue to operate in health centers, but the new strategy creates space to position some at municipal level. This shift would strengthen coordination with local authorities and improve links between multi-sectors, to strengthen the support of children and youth with disabilities.
5. A Broader Advocacy Space: ADED and OPDs can now lobby and advocate for the real application and implementation of the decrees (e.g. on accessibility in public buildings and employment quotas) by engaging with labor inspectors, municipal councils, and urban planners.
6. Stronger Policy Alignment for the DPRP/Tunafasi DRC Program: By shifting its agreements from health zones to municipalities, the DPRP/Tunafasi program positions itself squarely within the framework of the 2025–2030 DRC National Strategy Plan—enhancing legitimacy, sustainability, and impact.
A Systemic Shift towards Disability Inclusion
The transition from a health-centered rehabilitation program to a multisector national disability strategy represents a major national policy shift for DRC. For the DPRP/Tunafasi program in eastern DRC, supported by ADED, this also means a shift in its scale-up strategy: from health zones as entry points to municipalities as the central partners. CBRFs will continue to support children with disabilities and their families with health services, but some will also be anchored at the municipal level to strengthen multi-sector coordination.
This transformation marks a turning point which will allow the DPRP/Tunafasi program to be recognized as a true and holistic inclusion initiative, rooted in local governance and cross-sectorial accountability, and fully aligned with DRC's government’s 2030 vision.
Note: Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) that used to be under the Ministry of Health, now through the new policy change under Multi-Sectoral Coordination in DR Congo, is well written out in laws and policies, but lacks in actual implementation on the ground. In DRC, there are a total of 522 health zones, in which CBR is implemented in 34 health zones, only with a focus on the medical health component. Through the work and effectiveness of ADED and AJEPAD, Uvira, Goma, Baraka, and most recently Bukavu, are the first 4 health zones in North- and South-Kivu (Eastern DR Congo) to include all 5 components of CBR and prevention, with governmental and community ownership and accountability at its core.
In the entire Provinces of North and South Kivu, there are a total of 68 Health Zones. ADED's ambition is to scale the DPRP/Tunafasi program to the other remaining Health Zones in North and South Kivu in the years to come (10 new health zones in the next five years).
