During the last decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced several armed conflicts, widespread political crisis, and systematic deterioration of the social infrastructure. The grass-root population bears the biggest brunt of the recurrent armed conflicts and the post-conflict state-building failure. Denial of access to basic services (including education, essential healthcare, safe water and sanitation, social protection, security) is one of the fundamental human right violations persisting in post-conflict DRC. Although the decentralization process can considerably enhance the quality and accessibility of basic service delivery system, the basic conditions for such a process to achieve this target (especially the constitutional devolution of political, financial, administrative, jurisdictional power) are not yet guaranteed. This article examines the factors impeding accessibility and quality of basic service delivery in decentralized entities of post-conflict DRC. It suggests some effective and efficient implementation of the existing policies, if post-conflict DRC is to achieve effective postconflict recovery and pro-poor basic services delivery in the perspective of decentralization.

During the last decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced several armed conflicts, widespread political crisis, and systematic deterioration of the social infrastructure. The grass-root population bears the biggest brunt of the recurrent armed conflicts and the post-conflict state-...