Executive Secretariat

Executive Secretariat

Secrétariat Exécutif

Bukavu-DRC,December 2015

1. Brief introductory overview

During the year 2014-15, the coalition ofcivil society in the African Great Lakesregion against the illegal exploitation of natural resources, COSOC-GL, in acronym has carried out two types of activities.

It is a part of political and administrative activities related to the process of its institutionalization as a regional organization and on the other hand, technical activities which relate to its vision and objectives in relation with advocacy,lobbying and the stake holders’ capacities building. These have served to support efforts in the region, in the DRC and in particularly in the province of South Kivu to establish accountable conflict free 3TG supply chain and thus in compliance with the regional mechanism for Certification, MRC set by the International Conference on the Great Lakes region.

The whole of these activities has received technical and financial support from the German Technical Cooperation, essentially GIZ and BGR withinthe framework of the local subsidy for the benefit of the coalitionincluding the establishment of a web site and the appointment of an international consultant for this matter.

This report presents the summary of above-mentioned activities for the purposes archiving the achievements and major challenges as well as identifying the perspectives and shares them with the whole of member organizations and partners.

2. Global Context

The initiatives developed by COSOC-GL are inspired by contextualized eventsin the 2010sincluding the rush of military, political and administrative authorities andmanyarmed groups operational in eastern of Congotoward illegal mining. The mining sites had become real armed groups sanctuaries involved illegally in extractive activities which became the main sources of financing theirguerrillas.

The phenomenon "armed groups"for examplehas taken a significant sweep in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Their activism has resulted in reverse impactsat all levelsthus affecting dangerously the life of local communities. Serious violations of human rights have beenreported. Illegal tax collectionhas been reported. Cases of fraud and minerals smuggling and the development of the mafia networks have increased.

At the international level, ores from Eastern DRC have beard several aliases in order to discourage buyers; who feared their reputation which is subject to the monitoring and advocacy activities conducted by international civil society organizations: blood minerals referring to cursed gold, coltan of pain, cassiterite of suffering, etc.

Facing this situation, the Head of Congolese State suspendedall artisanal mining activitiesin the east of the country with a view of restructuring the mining sector, in particular by creating mining and agricultural cooperativesas well as mapping mining sector stakeholders. Unfortunately, this political will has not been accompanied by the national plans and budgets for the materialization of the vision of the Head of State in this matter. Mining cooperatives were abounding everywhere in different forms without however any supervision.

The regular Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, FARDC wereorderedto double efforts and tasked with neutralizing negative armed groups by disabling their funding sources that include mining and minerals trade.Indeed, jointoperations called "Kimia I, II, SOKOLA I and II" have been launched and the goal of eradicating armed groups has been reached at around60%.

Regarding the regional certification, most of the mining sites do not meet the regional and international requirementsdue to the context of conflicts. They were not either qualified or validated. Their untracked production was not accordingly eligible for international trade.

Resulting from military operations mentioned above, FARDC have taken the control of several mining areas. Thousands disobedient Officers and soldiers were reported to be directly and indirectly involved in mining and minerals trade violating therefore article 27 of the Congolese Mining Law as of 2002.

Harassment, extortion, injury to life, illegal tax collections, revenue embezzlement and many other anti-values have been reported. Both civil society in the field of natural resources and the State department on mining sector have reportedthis new scourge. Their advocacy has pushed the military hierarchy in South Kivu to act through the directorate of agriculture, fishing, breeding and natural resources called “D-AGRI” in order to restore the reputation of FARDC.

The involvement of D-AGRI is based upon the General military head office agreement No. 00/0to01/EMG/COMDT/12 relatingto the formal prohibition tothe exploitation of natural resources and Forest by any FARDC serviceperson. The provision in article 5 is:"No FARDC serviceperson, whatever his/her rank and position hastheright to do mining and to harvest timber ".

On the basis of thisoperational guidance, the Commander of the 10ème Région Militaire ordered D-AGRI to proceed with sensitizing military servicepersons so that they withdraw from mining, timberand hunting activitiesas this is part of their protective missions (mineral resources, forestry, animal,).

3.COSOC-GL intervention Opportunity

On the basis of noteworthy aspects of the local, national, regional and international context with respect to mining and trade in minerals,COSOC-GLhas initiated a cooperation project with the 33ème Région Militaire including the Police of mines in a spirit of mutual trust and respect.

The project is called"Awareness Campaign for the 33ème Région Militaire servicepersons involved in illicit mining and minerals trade in South Kivu"

Through this project, COSOC-GL hoped to contribute to cut the linksbetween mining and conflict in eastern DRC; a phenomenon which is exacerbated by the involvement of FARDC servicepersons in illegal mining and illicit trade in ores.

This project has targeted three pilot territories in the province of South Kivu.These territoriesare characterized by a high concentration 3TG,and bya geographic isolation. These territories include Fizi, Mwenga and Shabunda presentmany challenges to establish an accountableminerals supply chain in the Great Lakes region.

The project is part of the vision of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region which aims security, stability and the development of Member States, in particular through the Lusaka Declaration as of 15 December 2010 on the Regional Initiative against the illegal exploitation of natural resources, RINR.

The conducted activities have had the merit of having defused the situation, reported acts related to corruption, involvement of military servicepersons and armed groups members as well as political and administrative authorities in illegal mining and illicit trade in minerals in the province of South Kivu and beyond the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with its neighbors.

4.Planned activities

4.1.Political and administrative activities related to the process of institutionalizingand empoweringCOSOC-GL

-The organization of the3rdGeneral Assembly of the Coalitionand of the 3rd steering committee meeting;

-The monitoring of recommendations of the 2014 General Assembly;

-Review of the coalition Guiding Principles;

-The development of theRules of procedure;

-The development of the procedural guide for administrative and financial management;

-Creation of an autonomous bank account;

-Negotiation and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and COSOC-GL;

-Members’ capacity building through the national platforms.

-Setting up the Coalition website;

-The preparation of the next General Assembly and of the 4thMeeting of the Steering Committee;

-The monitoring of the letter from North Kivu-based organizations to the President of COSOC-GL

4.2. Technical activities related to demilitarizing mining sites in South Kivu.

Through the implementation of the project “Awareness campaign for military servicepersons to withdraw from mining activities in the province of South Kivu” COSOC-GL had planned to carry out the following activities:

-Produce outreach leaflets formilitary unitson the ground at the mining sitesin Fizi, Mwenga and Shabunda;

-Demilitarize the mining sites characterized by a remarkable military presence

-Support and strengthen the police of mines in its field work;

-Search for first-hand information and take part in the missions of qualification and validation of mining sites;

-Conduct a monitoring and surveillance on FARDC resurgence in and withdrawal from mining activities and submit the reports to the Commander of the33ème Région Militaire for useful provisions.

-Request the hierarchy of the 33ème Région Militaire to deploy the Heads of D-AGRI offices and other relevant servicepersons on the ground on the basis of reliable information regarding FARDC involvement in mining activity;

-Setup and monitor the radios clubs in order to sensitize regularly FARDC units and regiment on the ground;

-Monitor regularly and in collaboration with the 33ème Région Militaire and other stakeholders the progress of mining sites demilitarization process throughout the territories mentioned above;

-Provide technical support to D-AGRI servicepersons on the ground who are seeking out supports and or intervention from military hierarchy;

-Hold meetingswith other departments and stakeholderson the ground to collect opinions on the demilitarization in order to set up new strategies.

5. Activities carried out

5.1.Political and administrative activities related to the process of COSOC-GL institutionalization

5.1.1.The 3rdGeneral Assembly of the Coalition and of 3rd meeting of the Steering Committee;

The 3rdMeeting of the Steering Committee has provided guidance for holding the 3rd general Assembly in Bujumbura from 24 to 25 October 2015. This meeting has been supported by GIZ through its program supporting the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and took place in its facilities in Bujumbura.

The General Assembly has taken resolutionsand made recommendations which the economy is thussummarized.This Roadmap assessment has demonstrated that all of these recommendations have been implemented and some of them have contributed to achieving COSOC-GL institutionalization and empowerment.

Monitoring of resolutions and recommendations of the 2014 General Assembly

N° / Recommendations / Level of Achievement
01 / The Executive Secretary puts at the disposal of the members of the General Assembly the reports on activities and financial reports of COSOC-GL prior toholding the General Assembly; / The tools to examine in the course of the General Assembly 2015 were put at the disposal of attendees 10 days prior to sessions (15 February 2016)
02 / Each National Platform provides efforts; in particular in the mobilization of resources on the basis of joint projects like the ongoing process of negotiating a regional project in Kigali; / See reports of the national platforms to the General Assembly 2015
03 / The Executive Secretary address a correspondence to the Heads of New organizations whose applications have been approved by the General Assembly for regularization of their quality of effective member, including thepayment of membership fees and their annual contributions of 2015; / More than one correspondence was addressed to organizations that joined COSOC-GL. Some of them haveconfirmed their membership and others not yet. Out of 12 approved organizations, 8 did comply being 67% and 4 did not comply or 33%. Out of the 8 compliant organizations, 6 are from the DRC, 1 from Rwanda and 1 from Burundi. Out of the 4 organizations having failed, 2 are from Rwanda and 2 from Uganda. The NGOsRwari and reason of Rwanda have been warned to reapply given the lack of information on their membership.
04 / The National Focal Points are required to transmit to the Regional Executive Secretariat, copies of applications approved by the General Assembly for reference and archiving; / The Secretariat has addressed a correspondence to all national focal points. Some of the applications were received. The Secretariat recalled this recommendation in the correspondence addressed to the NFPs during thepreparation of the General Assembly.
05 / The General Assembly, after having assessed efforts that have been undertaken with the Executive Secretariat of ICGLR. Recommendation was to continue and to speed up the process of signing the MOU as well as with other partners for the mobilization of resources. The OECD Kinshasa meeting presents another opportunity to further discuss closely with Executive Secretary this issue. / Contacts with the Executive Secretary of ICGLR have been intensified and the Memorandum of Understanding between ICGLR and COSOC-GL has been signed in Goma on 24 January 2016.
06 / The Steering Committee of COSOC-GL is composed of 4 national delegates per country. They arenational focal points or not. This change will need to be integrated into the amended Guiding Principles or in the Rules of Procedure; / This provision has been integrated into the draft Rules of Procedure of theCoalition; the Guiding Principles has been formalized.
07 / The General Assembly, drawing lessons from experiences has resolved that from now only mandated effective members of national platforms are eligible to be member of the Coalition Steering Committee - and not only the National Focal Points often disinterested in the activities of the Coalition. / Take this into account at the General Assembly especiallyconcerning the renewal of the mandates of the steering committee members.
08 / Integrate the Policy on of interpersonal, structural and interests conflicts management into the rules of procedure to be developed; / This was integrated into the Rules of Procedure of the Coalition
09 / Conclude theissue of the OAG in collaboration with the National Platform of Burundi; / A letter signed by the Executive Secretary and the National Focal Point of Burundi has been addressed to the person in charge of OAG. (Ref. 001/cosoc-GL/SE-CBM/01-2016 of 04 January 2016)
10 / The Executive Secretary updates the list of members of COSOC-GL on the basis of new membership / A list of members of COSOC-GL has been updated and made available to members and partners, 23 effective member NGOs. Their records were requested as well as their postcards for postage in the web site.
11 / The national platform of the DRC designates a member organization to complete the Commission of Control including OLUCOME of Burundi and MPEDH of Rwanda / The National Platform of the Democratic Republic of Congo has convened a meeting at which Mr. RaoulKitungano has been designated by his peers to complement the Team of the Coalition control Commission. Unfortunately, due to the lack of support, the control commission has not been able tooperate during the year 2014-15.
12 / With regard to supplying COSOC-GL with information, each delegate has been requested to provide the Executive Secretariat with a brief presentation of the organization including the logo. / On the basis of a correspondence addressed to the member organizations by the Executive Secretariat, a few organizations have sent their presentations and logos (see which one have not yet sent)

-5.1.2. Review of the coalition Guiding Principles

The General Assembly has proposedamendments in particular relating to the profile of delegates to be part of the Steering Committee in the light of the failure from certain National Focal Points. Given the imminence of the guiding principles notarial regulations, these amendments have been integratedinto the draft rules of procedure to be submit to the next General Assembly for their adoption.

-5.1.3. Drafting theRules of procedure

The Secretariat of the Coalition has developed and shared with the National Focal Points draft rules of procedure. The latter will be considered and adopted by the 4thGeneral Assembly of the Coalition planned to be held in February 2016 in Bukavu. Immediately after their adoption and taking advantage of the attendance of signatory States, the adopted Rules of procedure will be submitted to the Notary of the city of Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

-5.1.4.The development of the procedural guide for administrative and financial management

The Secretariat of the Coalition has developed a draft procedural guide for administrative and financial management enabling to comply with the rules for managing the organization’s financial, material and human assets. This draft has been shared with the members of the Steering Committee who will need to review and adopt it at the 4thMeeting of the Steering Committee following the General Assembly.The adoption of this paper and the monitoring of its application falls within the competence of the Steering Committee.

-5.1.5. Creationof an autonomous bank account

The Executive Secretariat has, after getting the coalition core documents notarized undertook various steps to create the organization’s own bank account. In order to complete application, he sent request letter for provisional operation to the Governor of the province of South Kivu as well as requests for registration to the Mines, Plan and Justice Departments.

Acknowledgments of receipt of these letters have integrated intoa bank account requesting application. Now, the bank accounts of the organization are operational at the Trust Merchant Bank S.A or TMB, Bukavu subsidiary. The Coalition’s main bank account Id. 1270-3100288-00-34/COSOC-GL, sub-account Id. 1270-3100288-01-35/COSOC-GL/2 both with the same SWIFT code: TRMSCD3L.

-5.1.6. Negotiation for and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and COSOC-GL

Advocacy and lobby conducted by the Executive Secretary of the coalition with the Executive Secretary of ICGLR have resulted on 24 January 2016 in signing a Memorandum of Agreement between the two organizations.

Actually, COSOC-GL holds a document of recognition by ICGLR as a regional organization for the monitoring of the implementation of the Regional Initiativeagainst the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Great Lakes Region (RINR). The paper enablesCOSOC-GL to collaborate with both ICGLGR Technical Unit on natural resources and program on democracy and good governance.

The MOU is also a document which should enable both the Secretariat of the Coalition and the National Platforms to mobilize necessary means for the implementation of their policy in the governance of mining sector including 3TG minerals as designated by the regional mechanism for Certification, RCM.

-5.1.7. Building members’ capacities through the national platforms.

Activities related to building members’ capacities have not been largely realized, partly due to the lack of means but there is a clear vision of members through the National Platforms. A single workshop out of four planned has been held in Rwanda with the support of the Coalition’s Secretariat. It has focused on drafting a conceptual note on developing a project for citizen participation in the promotion of transparency in the supply chain and fight against violations of human rights in the Great Lakes region mining sector. Other planned workshops have been postponed in 2016 with the availability of phase 2 local subsidy from GIZ.