Belgian Development Cooperation

Belgian Development Cooperation (Directorate-General Development Cooperation – DGDC) plays a crucial role in financing activities of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in the field of development cooperation.

The Framework Agreement between the Ministries of Science Policy and Development Cooperation, renewed in 2007, is the reference for these activities.

With the support of Belgian Development Cooperation, the RMCA contributes significantly to the dissemination of knowledge about Africa and to scientific circles. The Museum takes part in the sustainable development of Africa by supporting African institutions to carry out their assignments and to undertake scientific research.

The following activities are funded under the ongoing five-year programme, 2008-2012:

Activities targeting a Northern audience

• Raising awareness through educational and cultural activities and  temporary exhibitions  in order to present a more accurate and nuanced image of modern-day Africa to a large and diverse audience.
• Conferences on subjects relating to the development of sub-Saharan Africa.
• Research on subjects relevant to development cooperation and relating to the development of sub-Saharan Africa.
  
• Prize of the Belgian Development Cooperation: awarded to students and young scientists every two years on the basis of scientific paramount to development.

Activities targeting a Southern audience

• Cooperation with African partner institutions

• Democratic Republic of  Congo (DRC)
  • Institute of National Museums Congo:
     - National Museum of Lubumbashi: educational activities for children and adolescents
     - Institute of National Museums of Congo – Kinshasa 
  • Geological and Mining Research Centre – Kinshasa:
    - increasing capacity of research and geological services
    - the www.rdcmining.com project: an online databank  of geological and mining documentation in the DRC
  • University of Kinshasa:
    - Political Science Centre: monographs about the new provinces in the DRC to support policy aimed at sound management
    - Faculty of Literature: linguistic research into the Kikongo language for educational purposes (additional partner: Marien Ngouabi University – Brazzaville)
  • University of Lubumbashi:
    - Centre for Study and Documentary Research on Central Africa: monographs of the new provinces in the DRC to support a policy aimed at sound management   
    - Department of Geology: 
        - increasing capacity in the field of geo-dynamic processes in Katanga
        - the www.rdcmining.com project: an on-line databank  of geological mining documentation in the DRC
  • Ecole Régionale post-universitaire d’Aménagement et de gestion Intégrés de Forêts et Territoires tropicaux (Regional Institute for Post-university Planning and Integrated Management of Forests and Tropical Territories), Kinshasa and Luki:
    - interdisciplinary support for sustainable management of forests and fishing in the river basins of the Congo (wood biology, ichthyology and linguistics)
• Rwanda: Mines and Geology Authority of Rwanda
  - increasing knowledge of the geology of Rwanda

• Tanzania : Sokoine University of Agriculture
  - development of an integrated management plan for the fight against fruit flies (Integrated Pest Management IPM)

•    Training courses and educational programmes for Africans
  By organizing training courses, the RMCA aspires to contribute to building local capacity and satisfying the demand for training in fields of RMCA expertise. 
  In this way, cooperation with African universities and scientific institutions will be encouraged. 
  >>> read more : scientific collaboration and study visits

• Making digital information sources and systems accessible to Africa and for development cooperation
  
  • Knowledge Centre: dissemination of information and knowledge regarding Central Africa via, among other means, the Internet 
  • FishBase: an international online fish encyclopaedia
  • Central African Biodiversity Information Network (CABIN): aims to develop a network of databanks on biodiversity, to be installed and supported in collaboration with institutions in the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi 
  • Distribution of RMCA publications in the DRC (libraries).