Introduction

Climate change ranks among the most pressing challenges facing rural and Indigenous communities across Africa, and none more so than those of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In South Kivu province, its effects intersect with social and gender inequalities to further weaken populations whose livelihoods depend closely on natural resources. On the front line of these upheavals, rural and Indigenous women and girls nonetheless remain largely shut out of the spaces where adaptation policies and strategies are decided.

It was to address this reality that the NGO Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO) designed and implemented, from January 2023 to December 2025, this project to mobilize rural and Indigenous women and girls and to advocate for gender-responsive climate action. Rolled out across six territories of South Kivu — Bukavu, Kabare, Walungu, Kalehe, Idjwi and Mwenga — it set out to advance gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment within climate adaptation, mitigation, access and technology-transfer policies and programmes. The success of its implementation owes much to the partnership forged with the National Alliance for the Adaptation of Indigenous Women to Climate Change (ANAFAC), whose community rootedness and deep field knowledge greatly facilitated the mobilization of women and the local ownership of activities.

This final report takes stock of three years of implementation. It revisits the project's background and rationale, its objectives and the activities carried out, presents the results achieved and the beneficiaries reached, and examines its contribution to gender equality, climate action and a range of cross-cutting issues. It closes by drawing out the lessons learned, the sustainability and replicability of the approach, and the prospects ahead.

Background and Rationale

In South Kivu, in the east of the DRC, climate change strikes hardest at those who bear the least responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and who have the fewest means to adapt — first and foremost rural and Indigenous women. Because of the social roles society assigns to them and the discrimination they endure, these women are doubly exposed to climate disruption. Being a woman heightens vulnerability to climate shocks as well as to environmental and economic upheaval, especially in rural areas, where the livelihoods of families rest largely on natural resources (water, forest products, agriculture) that are themselves highly sensitive to climate hazards. Compounding this, the resources and room for manoeuvre available to them for adapting remain tightly constrained by the inequalities that affect them. It is against this backdrop that the NGO Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO) designed and successfully carried out this project to mobilize rural and Indigenous women and girls and to advocate for gender-responsive climate action, advancing and accelerating gender mainstreaming and the empowerment of rural and Indigenous women across all adaptation, mitigation, access and technology-transfer policies and programmes in the face of climate change in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Main Objective of the Project

The project contributed to promoting and supporting sectoral policies favourable to gender and to the inclusion of rural and Indigenous women in adaptation, mitigation, access and knowledge-, good-practice- and technology-transfer programmes and actions, so as to strengthen their resilience to climate change in South Kivu (DRC). As traditional custodians of natural resources (agriculture, water, forest), these women are central to climate strategies, yet they remained shut out of decision-making processes.

Project Beneficiaries

The main target group consisted of rural and Indigenous women and girls of South Kivu (DRC), in the territories of Bukavu, Kabare, Walungu, Kalehe, Idjwi and Mwenga. As traditional custodians of natural resources (agriculture, water and firewood collection, management of local ecosystems), they are the most exposed to climate shocks while being the most excluded from decision-making. The project also targeted local communities as well as traditional and administrative authorities, key actors in behaviour change and policy.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation constituted a cross-cutting activity of the project, ensured throughout its implementation (January 2023 – December 2025).

Monthly monitoring was carried out in the field across the six territories (Bukavu, Kabare, Walungu, Kalehe, Idjwi and Mwenga). Data collection relied on the KoboCollect software and on standardized checklists, ensuring reliable and harmonized digital entry of information straight from the field. Each month, the project team consolidated the attendance lists of mobilized and sensitized women, the records of community mobilization sessions, the minutes of Local Consultation and Advocacy Framework (LCAF) meetings, the reports of advocacy actions and multi-stakeholder dialogues, and the count of radio programmes broadcast. This system made it possible to track progress against output indicators on an ongoing basis, flag difficulties and adjust activities in real time, backed by regular field visits and periodic check-ins with the LCAFs and local authorities.

Two evaluations complemented this system. A mid-term evaluation, conducted in the 18th month, assessed the project's progress, the relevance of activities and the first effects on beneficiaries, while reorienting certain actions where necessary. A final evaluation, carried out in the 36th month, measured the overall achievement of objectives and results, behaviour changes within communities, the effective participation of Indigenous women in climate governance and the integration of gender into local policies. Feedback from beneficiaries and authorities informed both evaluations.

Conclusion

At the close of its implementation (January 2023 – December 2025), the project to mobilize rural and Indigenous women and advocate for gender-responsive climate action fully demonstrated the relevance and effectiveness of an approach that places women at the heart of climate governance. Across the six intervention territories of South Kivu — Bukavu, Kabare, Walungu, Kalehe, Idjwi and Mwenga — it mobilized and sensitized 13,257 rural and Indigenous women, established and supported 6 Local Consultation and Advocacy Frameworks for Indigenous Women, conducted 6 advocacy actions and 6 multi-stakeholder dialogue sessions, and broadcast 36 awareness-raising radio programmes. In all, more than 106,000 people — direct and indirect beneficiaries, most of them women and girls — were reached, alongside 127 traditional and administrative authorities engaged in the process.

Beyond the figures, the project brought about lasting qualitative change. It shifted power relations and decision-making in favour of Indigenous women, long kept out of the bodies that manage natural resources and climate adaptation. Through the Local Consultation and Advocacy Frameworks, women who once had no voice became recognized interlocutors before customary and administrative authorities, able to defend their land, forest and environmental rights. In doing so, the project strengthened, in a single movement, community climate resilience, social cohesion, food security, the sustainable management of natural resources and the social protection of women and their families.

This experience confirms that gender mainstreaming is not an accessory component but a condition for the effectiveness and equity of climate action. By recognizing rural and Indigenous women as custodians of natural resources and full actors in adaptation, it becomes possible to build more resilient communities and to promote truly sustainable and inclusive development. The approach deployed — low-cost and strongly rooted locally — proved replicable and extendable to other territories of the DRC and of the African continent.

Building on these achievements, CCAO intends to consolidate and sustain the Local Consultation and Advocacy Frameworks, extend the approach to new communities and continue its advocacy for the effective integration of gender into climate policies and programmes. CCAO's engagement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo thus illustrates the importance of empowering rural and Indigenous women for effective, equitable and sustainable climate action — a model in the service of climate and gender justice in Africa.

Finally, CCAO extends its sincere thanks to the Mwanamke Fund and to the National Alliance for the Adaptation of Indigenous Women to Climate Change (ANAFAC) for their close collaboration throughout the implementation of this project. Their commitment, community rootedness and field knowledge were decisive in mobilizing rural and Indigenous women and in the success of the activities carried out across the six intervention territories.

CCAO Communication Team