Building on previous experience in Uganda, the Belgian organisation Eight World vzw started in October 2021, an Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) pilot project in a village in an artisanal mining zone in Maniema province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the coming years, more villages in that region will be added to this UCT program.
Eight World transfers cash directly to individual beneficiaries via a mobile money system that is established in collaboration with a Congolese mobile phone provider. Each adult living in the UCT village receives 20 USD per month via her/his phone, during a period of two years, and each child in the village receives monthly 10 USD during the same period. The beneficiaries are free to decide how to spend the money, not constrained by pre-specified requirements.
IPIS will conduct a UCT impact study to measure the effects of the intervention on the well-being of the beneficiaries (the inhabitants of the UCT village). Using a controlled study approach, specific indicators will be monitored over time in the group of people receiving UCT, in comparison with a comparable group of people not receiving UCT (living in a control village).
- Dates: October 2021 – December 2026
- Location(s): DRC
- Research Programme(s): Natural Resources
- Funder(s): Eight World vzw, Belgian Ministry of Development Cooperation (DGD), Fairphone
- Partner(s): Eight World vzw
- Activities: Field research – in-person baseline and monitoring surveys
- Deliverable(s): Baseline/monitoring reports
Project Coordinator
News
Press release: Universal basic income project expands to more regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Eight’s basic income project, in collaboration with IPIS, the Belgian Development Cooperation, Fairphone, announces the expansion of its basic income pilot project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
