00:01The Democratic Republic of Congo, every day thousands flee violence, abandoning everything
00:06– their farms, their cattle and their lives.
00:10The recent impacts epidemic is the latest blow and the most vulnerable – the displaced
00:15were hit hardest.
00:17But just when help was most needed, it vanished.
00:20The US administration abruptly froze USAID funding, which provided 85% of Congo's emergency
00:27aid.
00:28The projects collapsed, lifelines disappeared.
00:31Yakinte Marifa, a young pan-Africanist from the Afrika Pali group, questions the sudden
00:37cut in USAID funds.
00:39His group is often threatened following its research and analyses.
00:43There was no tangible impact on the field – no good roads, schools or hospitals.
00:50This can be proved by the staff who were on those development projects.
00:54There is corruption that goes with unfinished operations.
00:58There are huge amounts of money used in development projects that have no specific plan.
01:03What we call plan here goes with every new government that comes in and presents some kind of unrealistic
01:10action plan.
01:11This results into gangs and smuggling because the more it's unstable, the more it comes
01:17with corruption, disorganization.
01:19And everyone makes their own rules.
01:23Yakinte believes the aid system has become bloated, prioritizing paperwork and visibility over
01:29real solutions, especially in countries already shattered by conflict.
01:34Organizations on the ground know what their communities need.
01:37But they've long been shut out of major aid funds due to strict eligibility rules.
01:43Aid workers like Mireille and Kouzoué will be there, delivering essential care to women
01:48and girls at risk, no matter what.
01:50Our profile does not allow us to access funding.
01:55The requirements were too stringent.
01:56We were not eligible, but we kept applying despite these facts.
02:02If the U.S. aid funding does not come back, there will be a gap in our budget provisions.
02:10But it will not stop us from serving the community.
02:16In Congo, aid may come and go, but what remains is the will to survive and the courage of those
02:21who never stop fighting for a better tomorrow.
02:24.
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