Mediation between PHC and communities: The ICM delegation met with stakeholders in Boteka

A delegation from Independent Complaints Mechanism (ICM)), a joint initiative of the European Development Banks DEG, FMO et PROPARCO, visited Boteka, the site of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), in the province of Equateur, from November 26 to December 3, 2022, to prepare the mediation between PHC and local communities regarding a complaint lodged by communities in 2018. The ICM team was led by the Principal Mediator and Head of Delegation. An assistant mediator and a translator were also part of the delegation.

During their previous stay in the DRC, from May 23 to June 3, 2022, ICM experts had met with the complainants and group leaders to gain a more in-depth understanding of the complaints filed with the ICM and which will be examined during the mediation. This visit was followed by another meetingin August 2022 in Lokutu to select and train the people who will have to participate in the next mediation between the communities and the PHC.

In Boteka, the ICM delegation held a meeting with community members representing 17 villages in the Boteka grouping. A total of 108 community members took part in this meeting. Among the participants, we can mention the head of the Boteka groupement, the village chiefs as well as the representatives of women and young people. Civil society was also represented. At the end of the meeting, community members nominated 17 representatives and 4 members of civil society to take part in the next mediation.

Community representatives took part in the training organized by the ICM delegation.

To better prepare participants for mediation, the ICM delegation organized a training on November 30, 2022 during which community and civil society representatives learned the principles of negotiation as well as conflict resolution.

“As a representative of civil society, I can only be satisfied with the initiative of the ICM delegation to prepare us for mediation. I learned a lot about conflict resolution and I look forward to taking part in the next mediation,” says Mr. Héritier Ntsimbo, president of civil society in the Dwali sector.

“Resolving our differences through mediation is the best solution. It is for this reason that I support the efforts of the ICM to prepare us for the upcoming mediation as well as the willingness of the company PHC to take into account the concerns of the community", indicates Mrs Nkasa Mpokola Doudous, member of the community of Bondjoku village, who participated in the training organized by the ICM delegation.

In Boteka, as in Lokutu, preparations for the upcoming PHC and local communities mediation are moving in the right direction. By getting closer to the community through mediation, PHC intends to safeguard shared prosperity, through which it is committed to improving the living conditions of the populations surrounding its sites.

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