The current situation of COVID-19 in DRC

Lockdown and home isolation are good means for preventing the spread of COVID-19. However, local people at risk of exclusion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are moaning about their livelihoods. The Covid-19 is causing drastic changes to the habits and routines of inhabitants in DRC. They would rather die with coronavirus than be starving. This project is more focusing on vulnerable groups, including marginalized people, people living with mental health crises, AIDS, disability, people in acute crisis due to substance misuse, refugees and internally displaced people, as well as people who are informal workers, especially women, because we aim to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing preventive measures against coronavirus at the individual level. We collect data using innovative approaches (mobile phone surveys, internet…) to give insights on the current status of the pandemic, and the economic and social impacts.

The coronavirus pandemic is impacting all parts of human society. The level of home confinement, lockdown or movement limitation varies among regions, and so does the accessibility that people have to outdoor spaces. Like everyone else, people living in low-income countries are concerned first with how the pandemic affects more and more their health, economy, and social relations. Covid-19 is already circulating in Democratic Republic of the Congo and efforts are increasing to limit its impact in our local communities. Thus, the Congolese government took various measures a few weeks ago to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Therefore, there is an urgent need to monitor the extent of the spread as well as ongoing and future implications. This project is conducted in provinces affected by COVID-19 in DR Congo, including Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Haut-Katanga, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Ituri, Equateur and Kwilu. 

We focus on online or phone survey data in order to know the current status of the pandemic, and the longer-term impact evaluations of the pandemic on economic and social conditions of local people. Through this survey, we are trying to find out the experience of local populations with regard to these measures prescribed by Congolese government, and their level of implementation of these instructions, which aim to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This enables us to monitor the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing preventive measures against coronavirus at the individual level.

This project is conducted in provinces affected by COVID-19 in Democratic Republic of the Congo, including Kinshasa, Kongo Central, Haut-Katanga, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Ituri, Equateur and Kwilu. This project, conducted by Mwangaza Wa Upendo (MWU), explores how the outdoor spaces that people are able to access during coronavirus confinements, and the physical activities practiced can affect moods and emotions, and how these spaces and activities can help us during this time. In order to collect reliable data, any person older than 18 years old is invited to participate, whether currently in home confinement/lockdown/self-isolation/quarantine or not. The survey is totally anonymous, and the results are used exclusively for project purposes. Through this survey, we are trying to find out the experience of local populations with regard to these measures prescribed by the government, as well as their level of implementation of these instructions, which aim to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This project is focusing on vulnerable groups, other than women, e.g. marginalized people, informal workers …

COVID-19 outbreak is causing drastic changes to the habits and routines of inhabitants in many countries around the world. However, local people at risk of exclusion in DRC are moaning about their livelihoods. They would rather die with coronavirus than be starving. In DRC, financial worries are reported, while new COVID-19 positive cases are increasing day by day. Therefore, there is an urgent need to monitor the extent of the spread as well as ongoing and future implications. We want to know if different measures taken by government to curb the spread of the COVID-19 are respected by local people.

The utilization innovative approaches (mobile phone surveys and interne) makes our solution innovative. In order to protect our innovative approaches from being copied by our competitors, our database is encrypted and shared only within our network, and team members from our Organization Mwangaza Wa Upendo “MWU NGO” learn and maintain the innovative approach.

In this project, we are collecting data using innovative approaches (mobile phone surveys and interne). By using the innovative approaches, we provide a better information base and achieve our project goals according to our estimated timelines. That is the advantages of implementation of innovative approaches in our solution.

Mwangaza Wa Upendo “MWU NGO” utilizes a widely used and accepted technology. The innovative approaches (mobile phone surveys and interne) which were used by other organizations or institutions, such as AZTI (Spain), University of Exeter (UK), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway), and University of Antwerp.

Data from interviews with our target communities are used to understand the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing preventive measures against coronavirus at the individual level.

We currently surveyed 317581 people. We plan to reach more than 1 million of people by the end of year. We expect to survey more than 5 millions of people within next years.

We are planning to extend this project in all provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo using innovative approaches in order to get an overview on the situation of coronavirus pandemic.

We are currently stuck by the lack of funding in order to meet our goals in the next years.

We expect to obtain funds from SOLVE Health Security and Pandemics Challenge in order to achieve our goals within next years.

Mwangaza Wa Upendo (MWU) is a non-profit organization created on 6 March 2015, and was officially registered on 20 July 2017 under N°070/2017of Ministry of Social Affairs of Democratic Republic of the Congo. MWU is a registered non-profit organization with statutes/constitution equivalent to US 501c3. MWU is involved in supporting and helping the underprivileged women and children, assisting and educating these children, introducing women to entrepreneurship, promoting young women's learning of trades, assisting young people living with AIDS, disability..., fighting against climate change and protecting the environment.

Number for MWU full-time staff is 12. A total of 28 local field investigators (field survey team) have been only engaged in the implementation of this COVID-19 project, including 14 women and 14 men. 

Mwangaza Wa Upendo (MWU NGO) is a local non-profit organization located in Democratic Republic of the Congo.  MWU has previously conducted a similar project in these provinces, and the project results showed a positive impact in these provinces until now. We used communications technology during the implementation of the previous project. The local people (first beneficiaries) appreciated the quality of our work on field. The goals of the previous project were met according to the timelines.  We work with a strong sense of enterprise, diligent and motivated, good at thinking and analyzing problems, learning ability or experiment ability is a plus. We investigate conceptual frameworks used to critically analyze local problems and drive sustainable solutions. In sphere of selection, local field investigators are selected on the basis of various criteria, such as be familiarized with communications technology. To encourage the equality gender during the implementation of the project; women and men will be involved as local field investigators in the various activities of the project. A network of collective actions will be organized to share our values and ideologies, to act together, to know each other, and to encourage collaboration action

We don't have currently any partnership with organizations in implementation of this project. We are working with local field investigators as stakeholders in the project activities.

We are planning to extend this project in all provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo using innovative approaches in order to get an overview on the situation of coronavirus pandemic. That is why we are applying to Solve in order to achieve our goals in the next years.

We need partners or support in solution technology and monitoring and evaluation, because they provide us a better information base and meet properly our project goals according to our estimated timelines. As well as annual meetings with stakeholders for the exchange of experience, sharing of lessons learned in the implementation of this program will be also organized in order to monitor and evaluate the impacts of project.

SOLVE Health Security and Pandemics Challenge will create a partnership between MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Mwangaza Wa Upendo (MWU NGO) in order to help us build our expertise and to develop our skills, experience and knowledge base.

We are planning to extend our project in all provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo in order to get an overview on the situation of coronavirus pandemic. The Elevate Prize for Health Security will be spent for the following materials: local field investigator; laptop (computer); android (mobile phone); card sim; internet (GB); power bank; field book; pencil; box of masks; box of gloves; box of disinfectants; food during survey work; local transport during survey work; unforeseen or indirect costs.

Laptops (computers) are needed to store data safely and write survey daily report. Masks, gloves and disinfectants are needed to be distributed to local people during the survey. Android (Mobile Phone), Internet, Card Sims are used to record data during the survey. Power banks are used to store power.  Field books and pencils are used to record site/city coordinates and other data. Food is also needed during survey work. Local transport is needed for field survey team. Unforeseen or indirect costs is added to project budget to serve for unexpected circumstances).

The use the AI in our organization will help us change our way organization by monitoring, modeling, and management of our working areas. The AI system is the technology powers can be used across different sectors like healthcare, customer support, telecoms, e-commerce or gaming, education, transportation… We also see the AI system to be used to translate language, identify patterns and make predictions. The AI system can also be used identify wildlife in the parks or protected areas using camera trap, drones and more. We also see the AI to be used in many clinical situations to diagnose, treat, and predict the results. The AI system can support tasks related to this data: its processing, analyzing, finding patterns, building predictions, etc. The Artificial Intelligence has the capability of detecting meaningful relationships in a dataset.

In sphere of selection, stakeholders are selected on the basis of various criteria. To encourage the equality gender during the implementation of the project; women and men are involved in the various activities of the project.  The Innovation for Women Prize will be used to promote women's activities in our organization.

Our project is more focusing on refugees and internally displaced people. The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion will be used to help refugees and internally displaced people in Democratic Republic of the Congo

We are qualified and would like to be considered for The People's Prize, because our project is more focusing on vulnerable people, including marginalized people, people living with mental health crises, AIDS, disability, people in acute crisis due to substance misuse, as well as people who are informal workers, especially women.