{"id":10834,"date":"2026-10-22T13:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/?p=10834"},"modified":"2026-10-22T13:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T13:23:34","slug":"esper-ten-years-of-strengthening-local-security-governance-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/news\/esper-ten-years-of-strengthening-local-security-governance-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPER: Ten Years of Strengthening Local Security Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"section section--core \"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-12 col-md-8 offset-md-2 block-wrapper\"><div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><strong>How can lasting peace be built in fragile contexts? The ESPER programme believes the answer often starts at the community level, where citizens, authorities, security services and civil society work together. A new video looks back at ten years of this approach in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10835\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-546x363.jpg 546w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-373x248.jpg 373w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-280x186.jpg 280w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39-66x44.jpg 66w, https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Image39.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Local police officials meet with the community as part of the ESPER programme in eastern DRC. Photograph: Cordaid\/VNG International<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On 15 June 2026, European decision-makers, representatives of Congolese institutions, researchers and civil society organisations gathered in Brussels to share what a decade of ESPER has taught them. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vng-international.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">VNG International<\/a> and Cordaid implemented ESPER, with support from the Dutch government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>H.E. Jacquemain Shabani Lukoo B., Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Security, Decentralisation and Customary Affairs of the DRC, delivered the keynote speech. The first panel examined the local security governance in the Congolese context. The second panel explored how investment and stability reinforce each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The video captures the day&#8217;s main messages. The Deputy Prime Minister explains that the government has taken ownership of the programme, which is now the subject of a decree and two orders. The government is rolling it out nationwide, with ten provinces fully involved. Other speakers describe how police and communities now work more closely together, and why investing in local security is also an investment in development. The video closes with the conference recommendations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>See how local security governance has taken shape in the DRC over the past ten years:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\n<div class=\"oembed-component\" data-module=\"oembed\" data-source=\"consent_embed_youtube\" data-type=\"video\" data-cookiebot=\"1\">\n\t<div class=\"oembed-component__content\">\n\t\t<div class=\"oembed-placeholder\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"oembed-placeholder__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<p>This content is available after accepting the cookies.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<button class=\"btn\n\tbtn--primary js-consent-button\"        type=\"video\"  >\n\t\n\t\t\t<span class=\"btn__text\">\n\t\t\tChange cookie-settings\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<template>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"oembed-video\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"oembed-video__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/6J8Nuw3fFs0\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t<div class=\"oembed-video__content\">\n\t\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ESPER: Ten Years of Local Security Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo | Cordaid\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6J8Nuw3fFs0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"oembed-video__play\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\tPlay video\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/template>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"section\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12 col-md-8 offset-md-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"page-links\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"col-12 col-sm-6\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"page-links__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/news\/communities-and-authorities-work-together-towards-stability-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo\/\" class=\"btn btn btn--more page-links__link\"  >\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"btn__text\">\n\t\t\t\tMore on the ESPER programme\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"btn__icon\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon icon-chevron-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"col-12 col-sm-6\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"page-links__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/countries\/democratic-republic-of-congo\/\" class=\"btn btn btn--more page-links__link\"  >\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"btn__text\">\n\t\t\t\tMore on our work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"btn__icon\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon icon-chevron-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"section section--core \"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-12 col-md-8 offset-md-2 block-wrapper\"><div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can lasting peace be built in fragile contexts? The ESPER programme believes the answer often starts at the community level, where citizens, authorities, security services and civil society work together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topic_tax":[13],"country_tax":[23],"class_list":["post-10834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic_tax-justice-and-peace","country_tax-democratic-republic-of-the-congo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ESPER: Ten Years of Strengthening Local Security Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo - Cordaid International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The ESPER programme believes good security governance is achieved at the community level, where authorities and civil society work together.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cordaid.org\/en\/news\/esper-ten-years-of-strengthening-local-security-governance-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ESPER: Ten Years of Strengthening Local Security Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo - 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