According to Energyglobal on 2nd July 2014 the Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) announced its recognition of the DRC as and ‘EITI compliant’ full member and congratulated the Government of the DRC for its sustained commitment and leadership in the implementation of the initiative. The DRC’s candidate status was temporarily suspended on 18th April 2013 following the publication of the 2010 EITI Report, which was found not to meet the EITI requirements, however, the country has since successfully addressed the issues that led to its suspension. As a ‘compliant’ country its citizens will now have access to extensive information about how their natural resources are governed and the Government were congratulated by the Chair of the EITI Board, Clare Short. The Head of EITI International Secretariat, Jonas Moberg also added that; “There has been an extraordinary level of engagement as part of the EITI process in the DRC. The EITI cannot solve all the problems in this big country, but it is clearly bringing transparency and accountability to a complex sector that has been badly managed in the past. EITI compliance does not mean that a country’s natural resources are managed perfectly, but it does mean that the country has a basic and functioning process to ensure that a well informed debate is taking place. Compliances will ensure that the DRC’s vital natural resource sector contributes to the countries long term development”.
More information on the DRC becoming a full member of the EITI is available here.