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ATLANTA...The Carter Center congratulates the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on becoming a full member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This hard-won achievement is the result of unprecedented collaboration between Congolese government agencies, extractive companies, and civil society organizations to accurately report significant revenue flows in Congo's complex natural resource sector.
Only a year ago, DRC was suspended from EITI for not adequately meeting reporting requirements. Facing exclusion, stakeholders worked together to increase the scope and accuracy of subsequent submissions to the EITI International Board. Local civil society organizations closely monitored the process, identifying flaws and proposing practical solutions to address them. Their contributions were crucial to the DRC's successful EITI candidacy.
"By meeting its commitments to disclose critical information about mining sector revenues, the DRC has taken a key step toward improved governance of its natural resource wealth," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. "I hope the people of the DRC will seize this opportunity to hold their leaders accountable for promoting sustainable development and alleviating the extreme poverty of its 70 million citizens. Urgent and sustained action is required on the part of all stakeholders to meet the challenges ahead and to overcome the legacy of mismanagement and corruption that historically has plagued the extractive industries."
There are considerable challenges ahead, the first of which is retaining EITI compliant status. Under the more comprehensive EITI standard in effect starting this year, compliance will require disclosure of information beyond public revenues, including data on licenses and ownership, production and exports, employment statistics, and sub-national transfers. This labor-intensive reporting process will require key stakeholders to engage immediately in order to meet the Dec. 31, 2014, deadline.
More importantly, the DRC must begin to use published data to advance accountability in the mining sector. In the spirit of the expanded EITI standard, it is essential to report on how public revenues from extractive sectors have been spent. According to the most recent EITI report, state-owned mining companies in the DRC collected over $328 million from private mining companies – more than a third of all reported revenue from the mining sector in the DRC. Meanwhile, workers at two of these state-owned companies have been striking over unpaid wages. Ultimately, successful governance of the DRC's natural resources will not be measured by EITI validation, but by the real improvements in the lives of Congolese citizens.
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