A Blueprint for Inclusive Resource Governance: The DRC National Action Plan on Business, Security and Human Rights

In 2025, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is expected to issue a National Action Plan committed to improving respect for security and human rights and preventing conflict in the extractive sector. This commitment follows from the DRC’s status as a recent member of the Voluntary Principles Initiative, a global initiative that gathers NGOs, companies and governments to work on reinforcing security and human rights across the mining, gas, and petroleum sectors.

The National Action Plan will address the prominent risks posed by the arrangements needed to secure infrastructure and operations in areas otherwise under-developed, but where communities legitimately expect to benefit from the exploitation of their natural resources. While companies hold the primary responsibilities to exert (heightened) human rights due diligence, to comply with standards and laws including the latest EU directive on corporate social due diligence (CSDDD), the state retains the broader responsibility to promote sustainable economic development and protect people’s rights.

Objectives and actions featured in the new plan will involve reducing the irregular deployment of army personnel on mining sites, improving the training of police officers, using dialogue to prevent insecurity and conflict around communities, among various actions identified by stakeholders during the consultations phase that took place between 2023-24 in Bukavu, Lubumbashi, and Kinshasa, with participants invited from other mining provinces by the ministries of human rights, mines, and petroleum, who have led this process.

Together with its local partners the Observatoire Gouvernance et Paix (OGP) and Justicia, DCAF has promoted responsible business practices through dialogue in Eastern DRC and in the Copperbelt (i.e. Lualaba and Haut Katanga) since 2017. DCAF has also accompanied the government with technical support since it first expressed its intention to join the Voluntary Principles in early 2020. A little over four years later, after Covid and multiple government changes, this process is still on the national agenda, relying both on the pioneering work by companies and local actors in impacted regions as much as on international partners.

Today, the territorial sovereignty of the DRC is undermined by the resurgence of decades-old transnational conflicts in the East. Gold and coltan supply chains play a role in this conflict, as they make North and South Kivu regions strategically important and support to fund armed groups activities. The conflict also highlights the challenges faced by DRC’s security apparatus and long-standing governance issues. With other regions in DRC on high alert and tensions rising, the need for a coherent and well-implemented governance framework is more urgent than ever. A National Action Plan (NAP) that ensures coherent governance of the industry can help prevent instability and reinforce national security.

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