DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Sports and culture for development (P165091) June 2019 1 Sports and Culture for Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo Executive summary 1. The Objective of this study is to show how sports and culture can be used to equip vulnerable youth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with skills and assets essential to living a productive life. It builds on the promise that the enhancement of physical and mental well-being can offset the potentially harmful influence of risk factors (such as persistent armed conflict, violence and insecurity) accumulated over many years of a child or youth’s development. Given the limited evidence available, the study attempts to pull together some of the most relevant threads in the evolution of relevant development literature, to usefully contribute to the ongoing debate on the potential contribution of sports and cultural activities in resilience building, social cohesion and human development. 2. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a fragile, post-conflict country with high demographic growth and poor governance, all of which have devastated institutions, the economy and the social fabric. Despite enviable natural resources and rapid economic growth averaging 7 percent annually between 2010 and 2015, poverty, inequality and vulnerability remain widespread. According to the 2018 Fragile States Index (FSI), DRC is a “very fragile� state, ranked sixth1-most fragile among 178 countries and labeled one of the “most worsened� states in terms of social, economic and political pressures. Violence and fear remain daily realities of one’s life in the DRC most acutely for children and youth. A growing number of studies show that exposure to violence negatively affects the well- being of children and hampers their development. And not surprisingly, this lack of security represents a fundamental constraint to economic growth and social progress. 3. It was estimated in 2014 that more than 32 million adolescents and young people (aged 10- 29) were born, and have always lived and interacted, in a context of fragility, conflict or chronic violence in DRC. For the country’s demographic dividend to yield a positive spiral of growth and job creation, young workers, especially girls and women, must be given opportunities to acquire appropriate knowledge, skills, and personality attributes, taking into consideration their combined potential impact on national development. 4. The DRC’s Law 11/023, promulgated on 24 December 20112, establishes sports and cultural activities as a fundamental right guaranteed by the State and grounded in the Constitution’s Article 123, point 13. However, despite this legislative framework, provision of sports and cultural activities are far from assured. Existing laws have not been backed up by clear provisions for integrating sports and culture in the national strategy for sustainable development or, more specifically how best to implement the principles outlined in the laws within ongoing programs in schools and other areas of Congolese life. 1 A drop from 2017, when the country was ranked seventh-most fragile among 178 countries and labeled a “high alert� state as a result of economic imbalances and socio-political pressures. 2 Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo 2 5. In 2017, 0.32% and 0.10% of the National Budget were respectively allocated to the Ministry of youth and sports and the Ministry of culture and Arts underscoring the need to bring fiscal forecasts more in line with the existing country policies and strategies. 6. The analysis of a recent household survey for Kinshasa and data collected from the Allo école3 platform suggest that participation rates in sports and cultural activities tend to be low and are determined by age, gender. Just under one in four boys (23.4 percent) declare practicing a sport on a regular basis. For girls the proportion is at less than one in ten (8 percent). Football is by far the most common sport being practiced, with 19.5 percent of boys and 2.6 percent of girls, regularly practicing the sport. When considering differences between age groups, children aged 13-18 are more likely to practice sports than those aged 6-12, and for a longer time as well. Participation rates in artistic activities are even lower with less than 2.6 percent of boys and 5.7 percent of girls declaring participating regularly in artistic activities. Music, except playing an instrument, is by far the most common artistic activity being practiced. When considering differences between age groups, children aged 13-18 are more likely to engage in artistic activities than those aged 6-12, and for a longer time as well. 7. The analysis also suggests that participation in sports and artistic activities are associated with better learning outcomes as measured through subjective perceptions of literacy and numeracy. Unfortunately, the lack of infrastructure together with the lack of educational materials and trained teachers most likely depress the rates of participation in sports and artistic activities whether in school or out of school. Out of school there are only a few qualified trainers, often volunteers, that have opportunities to take the lead to promote initiatives among young people. 8. This policy note is a first of its kind for the DRC and it shows the gaps in information and what can be done to further the Bank’s knowledge and support the government improve its sports and culture policy. Based on the evidence in this paper and the broader literature, a case can be made that more effort is needed to encourage sports and cultural practices in and out of schools. Laws have been adopted to this effect, but their implementation remains a challenge. Given the opportunity cost for most children and government to engage and invest in these activities, more detailed analysis than what has been done in this paper with the limited data at hand will be required in order to better understand the interconnections within/between sports and culture-based approaches that could maximize learning and social inclusion in DRC. 9. One issue to consider could be the extent to which sports and cultural interventions successfully improve the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of students and out-of-school children in the DRC context. Another issue is the viability of larger projects integrating sports/culture-based approaches to improving inclusion, retention and performance in school. This includes an estimated cost for the state of promoting sports in school, as well 3Allô École is a is a web application that enables Ministry of Primary, Secondary, and Professional Education (MEPSP) to create messages or questionnaires that people can access via SMS or interactive voice response (IVR). The Platform, accessible via mobile phone, has two communication channels: (1) from Provincial - and district - level administrators and teachers to national-level education policymakers and vice versa (government-to-government) and (2) from parents to service providers (people-to-government). 3 as the opportunity cost in terms of time for children in school to participate in more sports. How to ensure that sports activities are engaging, and fun is another consideration to keep in mind given that one of the main reasons for why children do not regularly part take in sports and cultural activities seems to be a lack of interest. 4 Introduction 1. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a fragile, post-conflict country with high demographic growth and poor governance, which have devastated institutions, the economy and the social fabric of the country. Despite enviable natural resources and rapid economic growth averaging 7 percent annually between 2010 and 2015, poverty, inequality and vulnerability remain widespread. Around two-thirds of people (64 percent) are below the national poverty line, and almost 1 in 6 people who live in extreme poverty in sub- Saharan Africa are in DRC. In addition, 69 percent of people are undernourished, with an average life expectancy of 59 years (2015). The country was ranked 176th out of 188 in the 2016 Human Development Index. Critically, large number of out-of-school youth, high rates of youth unemployment and underemployment are leading drivers of social unrest, at a time when the country needs to nurture its young people, who can be agents of change energized into solving the global challenges of poverty and oppression. 2. The DRC was devastated by war in the 1990s and early 2000s, which claimed millions of lives and all but destroyed much of the physical and social infrastructure of the country. The impact of the war, which officially ended in 2002, continues to reverberate today: According to the 2018 Fragile States Index (FSI), DRC is a “very fragile� state, ranked sixth4-most fragile among 178 countries and labeled one of the “most worsened� states in terms of social, economic and political pressures. Violence and fear remain facts of life. 3. In particular, DRC remains marked by high vulnerability of various populations as a consequence of past and current local and regional instability, especially in the East. Socio- political tensions around the electoral process, a significant economic slowdown, and chronic underdevelopment add to the adversity faced by affected populations. DRC likewise saw a significant escalation of conflict and violence in 2017 as national territory previously untouched by armed conflict began to experience extreme levels of violence, according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Related to this, DRC’s 4.5 million internally displaced persons in December 2017 is the highest in Africa.5 4. This lack of security represents a fundamental constraint on economic growth and social progress; a growing number of studies show that exposure to violence especially negatively affects the well-being of children and hampers their development. It was estimated in 2014 that more than 32 million adolescents and young people (aged 10-29) were born, and had always lived and interacted, in contexts of fragility, conflict or chronic violence in DRC. However, for the country’s demographic dividend to yield a positive spiral of growth and job creation, young workers, especially girls and women, must be given opportunities to acquire appropriate knowledge, skills, and personality attributes, taking into consideration their combined potential impact on national development. 4 A drop from 2017, when the country was ranked seventh-most fragile among 178 countries and labeled a “high alert� state as a result of economic imbalances and socio-political pressures. 5 OCHA, Humanitarian Response Plan 2017-2019. Summary Update 2018. 5 5. This study recognizes the potential of sports and culture to engage and promote human development and aims to provide the analytical underpinning for an advocacy on how sports and culture could be used to equip vulnerable in/out of school youth in DRC with skills essential to live a productive life. Given the limited evidence currently available, the study attempts to connect relevant threads in the evolution of relevant development literature, to usefully contribute to the ongoing debate on the potential contribution of sports and cultural activities in resilience building and social cohesion. 6. This report is organized as follows. Section 1 presents the DRC’s social and political context, as well as the rationale for exploring innovative approaches to build resilience and social cohesion. Section 2 summarizes some of the evidence on pathways linking sports and culture to development. Section 3 presents the DRC sports and culture institutional environment, and the last section presents a few recommendations on how to further this agenda in DRC. Background papers and case studies were developed as inputs to this ASA; these include , (i) an analysis on participation in sports and potential education benefits for children and youth in the DRC; (ii) participation in artistic activities and potential education benefits for children and youth in the DRC; (iii) evaluation of sports and cultural practices in schools across the Allo Ecole platform; and (iv) the state of culture, and cultural activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The last section makes recommendations for key interventions and implementation mechanisms to strengthen girls’ and boys’ resilience, optimism and inclusion through sports and cultural activities. Section 1. Social and political context – Environmental stressors 7. Building on findings of the World Development Report (WDR) 2011: Conflict, Security and Development (World Bank 2011), the analytical foundations examined in this study are based on the premise that embedding capable and legitimate institutions, ensuring citizen security and justice, and creating jobs are all essential to reducing the cycle of violence. Unfortunately, however, in DRC repeated cycles of conflict and violence, poverty, low access to quality education, lack of employment, opportunities’ social justice, and broader inequality, are taking a high toll on the country’s economic and social development. As highlighted above, several generations of Congolese children have been born and raised within the context of acute social crisis, constituting a major obstacle to the country’s recovery. 8. Repeated cycles of violence and trauma. DRC’s turbulent colonial and post-colonial history witnessed several wars and civil disturbances, as well as conflict in neighboring countries spilling over to Congolese territory (Table1). Most devastating was the conflict that began in 1997, often referred to as Africa’s First World War, which reportedly caused up to 5.4 million deaths out of a total population of 57.5 million people. Even today, at least 70 armed groups are believed to be operating in Eastern DRC, with competing interests over not only mineral resources but also over land and citizenship. Despite the stabilizing presence of UN peacekeepers (MONUSCO), militant groups in the region, such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), continue to terrorize communities and control weakly governed areas of the country, financing their activities by exploiting the country’s rich natural 6 resources. Millions of civilians find themselves forced to flee the fighting, with not only the internally displaced persons highlighted above, but also about 450,000 DRC refugees in other nations.6 Table 1: Historical Events in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1960–2017 Date Event 1960, 30 June The country achieves independence 1965 Joseph Mobutu seizes power in a military coup 1991 and 1993 Unpaid soldiers loot Kinshasa 1993-1997 Limited economic and political reforms are undertaken 1997 Rebels from the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire capture Kinshasa. Laurent-Desiré Kabila becomes President. 1998 Civil and international war ensues; Angola, Central African Republic, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe all intervene 2000 United Nations Security Council authorizes peacekeepers, known under their French acronym MONUC 7 2001 President Joseph Kabila takes office upon the assassination of his father 2002 The Global and All-Inclusive Peace Agreement is signed 2006-2008 Insecurity continues in North Kivu region in particular Late 2008-early2009 A financial and security crisis takes place; emergency support is sought from traditional creditors and bilateral diplomatic relations with Rwanda 2016 Electoral and other procedures are revised in an amendment to the Constitution 2016 Election (Constitution-related violence) 2017 Crisis in the Kasai region Source: Authors 9. Poverty, combined with lack of education, employment and opportunities. The troubled history of the country has complicated its economic development and the lives of many Congolese many of whom live in difficult conditions consisting of low access to basic services, widespread domestic, social and sexual violence, massive human rights violations, and extreme poverty. In particular, the lack of job opportunities for youth, together with a large demographic bulge of young people not sufficiently skilled to enter the labor market, has moved thousands of young Congolese to the streets, nourishing pockets of violence in a post-conflict setting. Unequal access to basic social services worsens the situation further. 10. Violence and knowledge development process. Evidence from neuroscience on early brain and child development shows that early childhood experiences determine a range of physical, social, emotional and cognitive skills. The brain is very malleable and inputs such as early life stress or cumulative exposure to violence, shape brain architecture from the formative years onward. Excessive stress exposure damages brain structures and functions, by either eliminating synapses associated with healthy brain development or consolidating those associated with unhealthy development.8 Children are especially affected in 6 Council on Foreign Relations. 22 May 2018 update. 7 The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). 8 Learning to Realize Education Promise 7 debilitating ways by conflict-driven displacement, increased exposure from all forms of violence, and long-term physical and psychological disability. 11. The DRC has made significant progress overall in its school enrolment but the large number of out of school children remains one of the most pressing issues facing the education sector. There are an estimated 7 million school-aged children and adolescents who are out of school roughly 22 per cent of the primary and secondary school-age population. As can be surmised, learning achievement among children in school is abysmally low. Critically, lack of job opportunities for the youth, together with a large “bulge� of young people not sufficiently skilled to enter the labor market, have moved thousands of young Congolese onto the streets, most likely contributing to fostering pockets of violence. Unequal access to basic social services makes this situation even worse. 12. Therefore, in the DRC context, unless programmatic approaches directly focused on building the ability of youth to endure stresses and shocks are prioritized, these can have a profound and lasting impact on the emotional, cognitive, behavioural and physiological functioning of millions of adolescents and youth. Section 2: Resilience and Social Cohesion Through Sports and Cultural Values 13. Based on quick review of some of the literature in both developed and developing countries, this section briefly discusses how sports and culture may contribute to schooling, learning, and resilience especially in fragile, conflict, and post-conflict situations by enhancing social cohesion while equipping youth with cognitive and non-cognitive skills that are becoming especially important given the changing nature of work and labor markets (World Bank, 2019). 14. Sports, well-being and social cohesion. In conducting the literature search for this study, several papers which discuss how sports can have a positive impact on wellbeing and social cohesion were identified. The statement of the 2016 Copenhagen Consensus Conference on children, youth, and physical activity in schools and during leisure time affirms that physical activity for children and youth generate benefits in four main areas: fitness and health; cognitive functioning; engagement, motivation, and psychological well-being; and social inclusion (Bangso et al., 2016). In the context of the sustainable development goals or SDGs, Dudfield and Dingwall-Smith (2015) note that apart from contributing to healthy lives and well-being (SDG 3), participation in sports may help in improving education outcomes for children and youth (SDG 4), achieving gender equality at all ages (SDG 5), enabling adults to reach their full productive potential in labor markets (SDG 8), promoting inclusive and resilient cities and human settlements (SDG 11), and finally contributing to peaceful and inclusive societies (SDG 16). 8 15. Culture as a lever to increase resilience. The role of culture in development is emerging as an important policy issue. A growing body of research suggests that culture-based policies that consider beneficiaries’ needs, values, norms, traditions and social practices can facilitate the restoration of the social and economic structures of society affected by conflict. Culture builds resilience by reinforcing the ability of people to use local materials, knowledge and practices to face adversity; they engender identity, acceptance, and ownership. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges the integral role of culture across many of the SDGs including quality education (SDG 4), economic growth and sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDGs 8 and 12), environmental sustainability (SDGs 14 and 15), inclusive and peaceful societies (SDG 16), gender equality (SDG 5), food security (SDG 2), and health (SDG 3). Furthermore, the World bank and UNESCO have placed culture at the heart of recovery processes by encouraging the integration of cultural heritage, creativity and diversity of cultural expressions with the reconstruction processes and recovery strategies9. 16. Sports, culture and Skills development. The empirical evidence on the potential benefits from sports and culture on skills development is stronger in developed than developing countries simply because more studies have been conducted in developed countries. In the United States, the Council of Economic Advisers (2018) notes several pathways through which sports and culture may generate such benefits. First, sports may help children and youth develop cognitive and non-cognitive skills, including socio-emotional skills that are becoming especially important given the changing nature of work and labor markets (World Bank, 2019). Participating in sports is known to be beneficial for acquiring both types of skills, and in turn, both types of skills tend to have positive impacts on employment CULTURE and earnings in adulthood10. Second, engaging in artistic activities has intrinsic Culture is precisely the medium through value for children and youth, but it has also which individuals express their ability to been suggested that it may help for fulfil themselves and is therefore an developing critical and creative thinking. It integral part of development. has also been suggested that participating in “INVESTING IN CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND artistic activities may boost the self-esteem INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE UNESCO,2009� and motivation of students, and that it may help them build socio-emotional skills apart from the cognitive skills to which much of the school day is devoted. In a fast-changing world where labor markets require flexibility and adaptability from workers, socio- emotional skills may matter as much for employment and earnings as cognitive skills11. 9 World Bank and UNESCO position paper on Culture 10 On the importance of non-cognitive skills, including socio-emotional skills, the Council of Economic Advisers mentions studies among others by Dunifon and Duncan (1998), Heckman et al. (2006), Linqvist and Vestman (2011), Kautz et al. (2014), and Deming (2017). 11 On the importance of socio-emotional skills, the Council of Economic Advisers (2018) in the United States mentions studies among others by Dunifon and Duncan (1998), Heckman et al. (2006), Linqvist and Vestman (2011), Kautz et al. (2014), and Deming (2017). 9 Figure 1 Lifelong education skills development Human capital Learning Poverty reduction (formal or non developmeny readiness social cohesion formal learning Employment settings) Socioemotional skills development through sports and cultural activities Section 3: Sports and Culture in DRC 17. Participation in sports and cultural activities are recognized as an important feature of the Congolese way of life. The country’s legislation reflects the efforts that have been made in organizing the fundamental framework of physical education, sports activities, as well as culture and arts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 3.1 Sports and culture in DRC’s legislations, national policies, strategies and institutional arrangements 18. The DRC’s Law 11/023, promulgated on 24 December 201112, establishes sports and cultural activities as a fundamental right guaranteed by the State and grounded in the Constitution’s Article 123, point 13. Under the Law, sports activities include not only physical and sports education, but also mass sports, competitive sports, high-level sports, sports for people with disabilities, leisure sports, amateur sports, professional sports, and sports for all (health, social interaction, integration, well-being). The Ministry of Sports oversees the country’s sports policy while the ministry of culture is in charge of the country’s cultural policy. In reality, the attribution and nomenclature of government ministries depend on political accords between political stakeholders. Thus, at different times Sports and Culture and Arts were part of the same ministry. Currently, the Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Leisure is different from that of Culture and the Arts. 19. Two documents establish the framework of the organization and promotion of sports and cultural activities in post-war Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the decree on the basic principles relating to the organization and the promotion of physical and sports activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo13 was promulgated by a presidential decree 12 Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo 13 Décret portant principes fondamentaux relatifs à l’organisation et à la promotion des activités physiques et sportives en République Démocratique du Congo 10 on December 24, 2011, the draft law14 on culture and the practice of Arts is currently under review at the Parliament before its signature and promulgation by the president. 20. The decree on the basic principles related to the organization and the promotion of physical and sports activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo was developed after the prescriptions of the 1986 National Conference on the renovation of the sport movement, and the 2008 General Estates of the sports. The Decree stresses its relationships with the education sector (see articles 5, 14, 15, 80, 81, 82) by making physical and sports education mandatory for all, including girls and students with disabilities, in all preschool, elementary, secondary, and professional schools, while the institutions of higher L’Authenticité education are encouraged to organize its practice. The Law also prescribes the The draft 2012 Declaration de Politique Culturelle du conditions for training special educators, and Gouvernement de la République Démocratique du Congo stresses the role of the state in establishing culture for insuring medical and legal protection of as the basis for national development; this is not new in athletes. Likewise, it establishes the rules of the DRC. The Mobutu regime, which lasted from 1965 to 1997 promoted a philosophy called “Recours à the equipment and the physical environments l’Authenticité� basically stating the importance of of sport facilities throughout the country, as it national culture. It aimed at protecting and promoting national cultural heritage from the devastation of invites the contribution of the private sector. colonial acculturation. Launched in 1971, this policy also called “Mobutisme,� sought to be humanistic in its core and vowed to reach the complete advancement of 21. The fundamental principles of Culture and the the whole body through politically motivated cultural Arts decree that is currently being reviewed is activities. In 1972 Mobutu made this view very clear in a speech to the members of his political party: “We proposed in line with the Constitution mainly advocate Authenticity to make it known that we must in its article 46 (describing the right of each join the notion of development throughout our system of thought and our own scale of values.� citizen for Culture, freedom of intellectual and artistic creation, and that of scientific and Thus, Authenticity developed to become the major mover of artistic creation in Congolese visual and technological research), and article 123 (point performing arts. The authenticity movement created a 12), 202 (points 19 and 36). As stated in its new artistic impetus with artists and cultural operators using materials from ancestral heritage. One can only introduction, this law provides a normative hear it in the music of Congolese musicians such as context for the will of the government to Franco Lwambo Makiadi (1942-1988), Rochereau Tabu Ley (1942-2015), the new generation, with Papa Wemba implement a number of national (1952-2016), Nyoka Longo, Pepe Kallé, Werasson, JB recommendations such as: the wishes Mpiana, and Fally Ipupa. The DRC has a very rich musical tradition. Known as Congolese Rumba Music, expressed during the 1992 Sovereign National or Ndombolo Music, it enlivens the whole continent of Conference, the Declaration on Cultural Africa and many parts of the world. Since the late 1960s, it is proven to have become very successful in West and Policy adopted by the DRC Government on East Africa. August 3rd, 2012, and the 2006 General Estates on Culture. It is interesting to note that out of 35, this Law devotes 4 articles on Culture as the foundation for the development of the DRC. Article 14 and 16 insist on the knowledge, the know-how, and resourcefulness of the people. The law also responds to the international recommendations contained in the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the UNESCO Convention on “protection and promotion of diversity and cultural expressions, the United Nations Resolution A/C.2/68/L.69 on “Culture and Sustainable Development�, the 1886 Berne Convention on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Productions, and the Chart for African Renaissance. 14 The working title is : “Projet de loi déterminant les principes fondamentaux concernant la culture et les arts�. 11 22. From an education perspective, the National Education Law 14/004, enacted on 11 February 2014, establishes fundamental principles of the national education system based on the Constitution’s Articles 42, 43, 44, 45 and 123. Physical and sports education are part of 23 fundamental education options under the Law that are mandatory for all, including girls and students with disabilities, in all preschool, primary, secondary and professional schools. The Law further recommends sports activities in higher and tertiary education institutions. Cultural activities are part of the national civic, religious and moral education and recommended for the development of an inclusive, effective and responsible citizenry. The law underscores the importance of moral values, creativity, local culture as a strong foundation for human development and a tool to promote the fundamental values and principles of democracy. However, despite this legislative framework, provision of sports and cultural activities are far from assured. Mixed messages exist regarding to the national commitment to their application. 3.2 Distinctive features of Sports and cultural activities in the country 23. In spite its aim to transform physical, sports and cultural activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, existing laws fail to give orientations as to how these activities could contribute to the individual and community development. They do not present clear provisions for integrating sports and culture in the national strategy for sustainable development or, more specifically to implement the principles outlined in the laws. Critically, there is no clear link with the country’s 2016-2025 education sector plan. 24. In 2017, 0.32 percent and 0.10 percent of the National Budget were respectively allocated to the Ministry of youth and sports and the Ministry of culture and Arts who, during the interview, underscored the need to bring fiscal forecasts more in line with the existing country policies and strategies. The achievement of the country’s goal to improving the living conditions of artists by taking accompanying measures to support their creation, or the of professionalization measures for high-level athletes will require significant management and fiduciary reforms. 25. Sports and culture landscape. The DRC sport and cultural landscape is highly influenced by the characteristic of each region making up its immense territory. There are multiple groups of all kinds involved in Sports, Physical, Cultural, and Artistic activities; these groups are often constituted around strong individuals who are both leading figures and managers of their own groups with limited qualifications. In that context, youth participation in social activities in a meaningful way is often limited and does not offer opportunities for growth. It is worth noting that Congolese success on the world stage is changing attitudes towards sports. Increasingly, international sports stars are impacting the Sports and cultural landscape through a variety of actions, impacts and motivations. Some contributes through private foundations, faith-based groups, hometown associations, professional associations that provide knowledge, skills or promote sports and cultural activities for development at the macro-level through lobbying and advocacy. The most known in DRC today are Bismack Biyombo, Dikembe Mutombo and Florient Ibenge Foundations that aim to raise young Congolese interest into basketball and football, identify talent and help them adopt/develop positive attitudes such as team spirit, fair play, 12 observation and analysis as well as the capacity to use stress as a motivating factor to raise performance. 26. A number of sports/cultural activities for peace are being promoted by humanitarian Organizations across the country, especially in conflict affected areas, to tackle a wide range of social issues within the communities. For instance, the practice of Capoeira practice in collaboration with local NGOs in North Kivu help former child soldiers and children victims of violence develop self-control and confidence. 27. As a result, sport, especially football, has become a huge influence on culture because of its ability to bring people together and the availability of resources from existing local partners and organizing bodies. Sports, teams are set according to various levels of a number of leagues. Each league is represented through the country. It has correspondence with international institutions, which more or less guide their actions on the field. It is at this stage a national policy on Sports and Physical Capoeira at Heal Africa Goma, North Kivu 2018 activities faces difficult challenges. For instance, the Soccer league seems to be Five days a week, children at the Heal Africa Hospital in accountable more so to FIFA than to the Goma learn how to play Capoeira. Former child soldiers, children in vulnerable situations, and girls who are victims National government policies and of violence learn how to play, sing that practice that deals orientations. Teams receive more funds with self-confidence, self-esteem and heal traumas. from sponsors and international competitions than they do from government instances. Non-professional teams rely on donations and contributions from participants and eventually from sponsors. The situation is even more dire for groups involved in Cultural activities. The government is not able to implement what the Law recommends and takes credit from activities organized with the collaboration with foreign embassies and cultural centers, such as the French “Les Halles� and the Belgian “Centre Wallonie- Bruxelles�, two major sponsors of the cultural activities in Kinshasa. The following analyses uses a recent household survey and data collected from the Allo école platform to explore the level of participation in sports and cultural activities in selected areas. 3.3 Basic Diagnostic of Participation in Sports and Artistic Activities 28. Analysis of a recent survey for Kinshasa by Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a, 2019b) suggests that participation rates in sports and cultural activities tend to be low across age groups and gender. This section summarizes key findings from this analysis. 13 Basic Diagnostic for Sports 29. Table 2 and Figure 2 provide statistics on participation in sports by gender and age. Just under one in four boys (23.4 percent) declare practicing a sport on a regular basis. For girls, the proportion is at less than one in ten (8.0 percent). Boys who practice a sport do so on average for 4.2 hours per week, while for girls the corresponding value is 2.3 hours per week. When including boys and girls who do not practice a sport regularly, this would translate in only one hour per boy of sports per week in the full sample, and only 12 minutes for girls. These estimates could be on the low side, since some of the children not regularly engaging in sports may still occasionally practice sports, but they suggest that the practice of sports is relatively low in Kinshasa, especially for girls. When considering differences between age groups, children aged 13-18 are more likely to practice sports than those aged 6-12, and for a longer time as well. Figure 2: Share Regularly Participating in Sports by Gender and Age Group (%) Boys Girls Age 6-12 Age 13-18 0 5 10 15 20 25 Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a). Table 2: Practice of Sports by Gender and Age in Kinshasa (%) All Boys Girls Age Age 6-12 13-18 Practicing sports regularly Yes (%) 15.8 23.4 8.0 13.1 19.6 Hours if yes 3.7 4.2 2.3 3.4 4.1 Hours for all 0.6 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.8 Share practicing by sport (%) Football 11.1 19.5 2.6 9.0 14.1 Basketball 0.9 1.3 0.6 0.4 1.7 Dzango 1.1 0.1 2.2 1.1 1.2 Volleyball 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 Handball 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 Track & field 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 Jogging 1.4 1.6 13.0 1.1 2.0 Fighting sport 1.1 2.2 0.0 0.3 2.2 Others 1.8 1.3 2.3 2.1 1.3 Location for practice (%) School 33.4 23.5 63.0 41.1 26.1 Sports club 10.0 12.4 2.9 5.7 14.2 Community Centre 3.2 3.7 1.7 1.5 4.8 Informal location 38.4 44.3 20.8 32.7 43.8 Home 14.0 14.8 11.6 17.9 10.2 Other 1.0 1.4 0.0 1.2 0.9 14 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Reason for not practicing (%) No time 11.0 11.4 10.8 7.4 16.6 No money 1.2 1.3 1.1 0.9 1.6 No infrastructure 3.9 4.2 3.6 3.7 4.2 No interest 82.3 80.7 83.6 85.9 76.6 Other reason 1.7 2.4 1.0 2.1 1.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a). 30. Football is by far the most common sport being practiced, with one in five boys (19.5 percent) regularly practicing the sport. This is not surprising given that football is considered as the “national sports�. The country won the African Cup of Nations twi ce in 1968 and 1974, and it qualified for the World Cup in 1974. Fighting sports (practiced by 2.2 percent of boys), jogging (1.6 percent), and basketball (1.3 percent) come next. For girls, football also comes first, but at a much lower rate (2.6 percent), followed by dzango (2.2 percent) and jogging (1.3 percent). 31. Schools are an important location for practicing sports, especially for girls, since almost two thirds of girls (63.0 percent) involved in sports activities mention that these activities take place in schools. This is probably in part because dzango is often practiced in schools, including during breaks. For boys, only one fourth (23.5 percent) of those practicing sports regularly do so at school, with informal locations being a more likely location (in 44.3 percent of cases). For younger children, the school is overall the main location for sport activities, while for older children, informal location tend to dominate, as expected. While one in eight boys (12.4 percent) practices sports in a club, the proportion is at only 2.9 percent for girls. Children practicing in clubs tend to be older, as expected. 32. Is there scope for increasing these rates? One way to look at this is to consider the reasons declared for not participating in sports. As shown in Table 2 (see also Figure 3), the main reason is lack of interest, with similar shares of girls and boys mentioning this reason (80.7 percent for boys and 83.6 percent for girls). This suggests that sensitization on the benefits of sports, or ways to make participation in sports engaging and fun, may be needed to increase participation. An alternative, which will be discussed later, would be to strengthen sports in schools, since many children are enrolled, especially among the younger group. In addition, lack of time appears to be an issue for slightly more than one in ten children, with again similar rates for boys and girls, but higher rates for older children, possibly because of the demand from schooling and in some cases working at that age. Lack of money does not seem to be a major issue, perhaps because the sports that tend to be practiced the most – football for boys and dzango for girls, tend to have very low participation costs. The lack of sports infrastructure is also mentioned, but only again by a small share of respondents. 15 Figure 3: Reasons for Not Participating in Sports Regularly (%) 1.7 11.0 1.2 3.9 82.3 No time No money No infrastructure No interest Other reason Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a). 33. There are also large variations on the prevalence of practicing sports across the wealth distribution, with an asset-based wealth index. There is a clear progression towards higher participation rates among children from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Only one in nine children (11.3 percent) from households in the poorest quintile participate regularly in sports, versus one in five (20.2 percent) in the richest quintile. 34. The likelihood of participating in virtually all sports is higher for children in the top quintiles with the exception of dzango. For basketball and fighting sports, most children participating are from the top quintiles. Children in the top quintiles are also more likely to participate in sports in schools (probably in part because they attend schools with better sports infrastructure) and in clubs than those in the bottom quintiles for whom informal location with friends are more likely places to engage in sports. Lack of time to engage in sports is mentioned more often by children in the top quintiles, possibly because they attend more demanding schools, while lack of sports infrastructure is mentioned more by children in the bottom quintile. 35. In the survey for Kinshasa, among all children aged 6 to 18, more than half (42.5 percent) are enrolled in private schools, with one in four (23.9 percent) in public conventionné schools, and one in nine (11.4 percent) in public non-conventionné schools. One in eight children are out of school in Kinshasa, a much smaller proportion than nationally. Differences in the practice of sports are small between public conventionné and non- conventionné schools, since in both cases about one in five children regularly practice sports (in both types of schools’ boys are more likely to do so). However, children in both types of schools are not practicing sports in the same locations. For children in conventionné schools, the school is the main location for practicing a sport, while for children in non-conventionné schools, informal locations with friends are the main location. This suggests that conventionné schools may have better facilities, or may be emphasizing sports more than non-conventionné schools. Children in private schools are less likely to practice sports (16.0 percent) than those in public schools, and children out of school are even less likely to do so (11.2 percent). 16 Basic Diagnostic for Artistic Activities 36. Table 3 and Figure 4 provide statistics on participation in artistic activities by gender and age. Less than three percent of boys (2.6 percent) declare participating regularly in artistic activities. For girls, the proportion is at less than six percent (5.7 percent). Boys and girls who regularly participate in arts activities do so on average for 4.1 hours per week. When including all children who do not participate in these activities regularly, this translates in only 0.1 hour per week per boy and 0.2 hour per week for girls. These estimates could be on the low side, since some of the children not regularly engaging in artistic activities may still occasionally engage in arts, but they suggest that artistic activities are rarely practiced by children and youth in Kinshasa, especially for boys. When considering differences between age groups, children aged 13-18 are more likely to engage in artistic activities than those aged 6-12, and for a longer time as well. Music, which is coded separately from playing an instrument, is by far the most common artistic activity being practiced. It could include singing. None of the other categories achieves a participation are above 0.5 percent. Figure 4: Share Regularly Participating in Artistic Activities by Gender and Age Group (%) Boys Girls Age 6-12 Age 13-18 0 2 4 6 8 Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019b). Table 3: Practice of Artistic Activities by Gender and Age in Kinshasa (%) All Boys Girls Age Age 6-12 13-18 Practicing artistic activities regularly Yes (%) 4.1 2.6 5.7 3 5.8 Hours if yes 4.1 4.1 4.1 3.7 4.4 Hours for all 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.3 Share practicing by activity (%) Music 3.4 1.8 5.0 2.5 4.8 Painting 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.3 Playing instr. 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 Sculpture 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Comedy 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0 Theater 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.4 Others 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 Location for practice (%) School 12.1 6.8 14.6 19.2 6.7 Cult. center 3.3 1.7 4.1 2.6 3.8 Com. center 24.2 18.6 26.8 21.8 26.0 Informal 8.2 13.6 5.7 7.7 8.7 Home 9.3 13.6 7.3 9.0 9.6 Practice room 22.5 25.4 21.1 21.8 23.1 17 Other 20.3 20.3 20.3 17.9 22.1 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Reason for not practicing (%) No time 9.9 9.1 10.7 6.4 15.0 No money 1.1 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.3 No infrast. 2.5 2.3 2.7 2.8 2.2 No interest 85.5 86.3 84.6 88.6 80.9 Other reason 1.0 1.3 0.8 1.3 0.6 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019b). 37. For those engaging in artistic activities, schools are not the main location to do so, since only 12.1 percent of children practice their craft in schools. Community centers, practice rooms, and other locations tend to be more likely locations. While there are some differences in locations between boys and girls, and by age group, in many cases those differences are not very large. 38. Is there scope for increasing participation rates in artistic activities? As for sports, one way to look at this is to consider the reasons declared for not engaging in these activities. As shown in Figure 5, the main reason is a lack of interest, with similar proportions of girls and boys mentioning this reason (86.3 percent for boys and 84.6 percent for girls). This suggests that sensitization on the benefits of artistic activities, or ways to make participation engaging and fun, may be needed to increase participation rates. An alternative, which will be discussed later, would be to strengthen arts education in schools, since many children are enrolled, especially among the younger group. In addition, lack of time appears to be an issue for slightly one in ten children, with again similar rates for boys and girls, but higher rates for older children, possibly because of the demand from schooling and in some cases working at that age. Lack of money or adequate space are mentioned but only by a small share of respondents. Figure 5: Reasons for Not Participating in Artistic Activities Regularly (%) 1.0 10.3 1.2 2.6 85.0 No time No money No infrastructure No interest Other reason Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019b). 39. There is a progression towards higher participation rates among children from higher socio- economic backgrounds, although this is not systematically the case since children in the third quintile are the least likely to participate. What is clear however is that children in the 18 top quintile are the most likely to participate. Less than three percent of children (2.6 percent) from households in the poorest quintile participate regularly in artistic activities, versus just under seven percent (6.8 percent) in the richest quintile. While participation rates in artistic activities are low across the board, the likelihood of participating in virtually all types of activities is higher for children in the top quintile with the exception of sculpture which is practiced by almost no children in the sample. Children who do participate are more likely to do so at school among the top quintiles than is the case for children from the bottom quintiles, probably because they tend to attend schools with better infrastructure. Nevertheless, for all quintiles, community centers, practice rooms, and other locations tend to be the most likely locations for the activities. Lack of time to engage in artistic activities is mentioned more often by children in the top quintiles, probably because they attend more demanding schools, while lack of adequate space is mentioned more by children in the bottom quintile. 40. In the survey for Kinshasa, among all children aged 6 to 18, more than half (42.5 percent) are enrolled in private schools, with one in four (23.9 percent) in public conventionné schools, and one in nine (11.4 percent) in public non-conventionné schools. One in eight children are out of school, in Kinshasa, a much smaller proportion than nationally. Overall differences in the practice of artistic activities are small between the various types of schools. Participation rates are slightly higher in public conventionné schools, followed by public non-conventionné schools and private schools. However, children in private schools are more likely to engage in artistic activities at school, with public conventionné schools ranking second and public non-conventionné schools coming last. Yet given that few students are engaged on a regular basis in artistic activities, the proportions doing so in various locations can change with just a few observations, so that the estimates must be considered with caution. Interestingly, children who are out-of-school are more likely to engage in artistic activities, especially in community centers. This may be because these children have more time at their disposal to do so, at least if they are not working while being out of school. 3.4 Benefits from Participation in Sports and Artistic Activities 41. Could higher participation in sports and artistic activities be beneficial for educational outcomes? This section summarizes results from the analysis, again first sports and then artistic activities. Benefits from Sports 42. The evidence to that effect is clear in developed countries, as noted in the United States in a recent report of the Council of Economic Advisers (2018) and in a review of the international experience by Smith (2015). The literature on the impact of participation in sports on academic and other outcomes for children in developing countries is more limited and it tends however to be more qualitative and anecdotal. Even though there are examples of rigorous impact evaluations, those studies tend to be rare, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. 19 43. Before summarizing results from regression analysis to assess in a tentative way whether participation in sports is associated with better education outcomes, Table 4 and Figure 6 first provide basic statistics of literacy and numeracy. The statistics are provided for the full sample of children as well as by gender, age, type of schooling, quintiles of wealth, and participation in sports. Nine in ten children and youth are declared as having the ability to read, write, and calculate, which is high for a country like the DRC even in a sample focused on the capital city. Girls tend to do slightly better than boys, and as expected older children do much better than younger children. Table 4 also shows that as expected, children who have no education are highly unlikely to be able to read, write, and calculate (in all cases the shares are below eight percent). By contrast, for children who have a primary or secondary education, the statistics are much higher, especially at the secondary level where virtually all children are able to read, write, and calculate. Differences by type of schools are not large, but private schools tend to do worse. As expected, children from higher quintiles of wealth tend to do better. Finally, children regularly participating in sports tend to do better than those who do not, with substantial differences at about ten to fifteen percentage points between the two groups depending on the indicator considered as shown in Figure 6. The question is whether these statistical differences hold after controlling for other factors affecting these outcomes through regression analysis. Figure 6: Participation in Sports, Literacy, and Numeracy (%) Ability to calculate Ability to write Ability to read 0 20 40 60 80 100 Participates in sports Does not participate in sports Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a). 20 Table 4: Basic Statistics on Literacy and Numeracy (%) Ability Ability Ability to read to write to calculate All 89.8 87.6 91.4 Gender Boys 82.7 80.3 84.6 Girls 84.5 82.4 85.6 Age 6-12 years old 75.9 72.6 77.7 13-18 years Old 94.5 93.9 95.6 Education No education 7.0 4.3 7.3 Primary 85.3 82.0 87.4 Secondary and higher 97.8 97.7 98.6 Type of school Public non-conv. 92.4 91.3 92.9 Public conv. 92.3 89.6 93.4 Private 88.6 86.7 90.0 Out of school 87.4 84.1 92.3 Wealth quintiles Poorest Quintile 70.9 67.9 72.3 Quintile 2 75.4 73.6 78.8 Quintile 3 86.3 83.8 87.8 Quintile 4 91.8 90.0 92.1 Richest Quintile 92.4 90.2 92.9 Participation in sports No 81.3 79.0 83.1 Yes 95.8 94.2 95.8 Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a). 44. In order to assess the potential impact of participation in sports on education outcomes, regression analysis is used. Given data constraints, the analysis should be considered as tentative only. The idea is to test whether after controlling for the potential impact of other variables on literacy and numeracy, there is an association – positive or negative, between participating in sports and these two outcomes. Based on the literature, we would hope that the association would be positive, but even is such an association is observed, the implications would be limited as results would not imply causality. 45. Key results from the regression analysis are provided in Table 5 (using probit regressions and reporting marginal effects at the mean of the sample). Engaging in sports is apparently associated with gains in both literacy and numeracy after controlling for other variables, whether children and youth engage in sports at school or in other locations. Both locations are considered separately to test for potential differences in effects by location, but the effects tend to be similar for both locations even if some effects are not always statistically significant in some of the sub-samples. Most of the effects are statistically significant (a few variables drop out in sub-sample regressions due to collinearity, especially in the case of numeracy). 46. The interpretation of the first coefficient in the Table (0.0497 for sports in schools and the ability to read) suggests that controlling for other variables in the regression, children who regularly practice sports in school have a likelihood of being able to read that is higher by 21 4.97 percentage points. When a coefficient is not statistically significant at the 10 percent level, this is indicated by “NS�. When they are statistically significant, the effects are in the range of five to ten percentage points for literacy and three to eight percentage points for numeracy. Importantly, the effects are only signaling associations, so that they need not imply any causality. Table 5: Potential Effect of Sport Activities on Ability to Read, Write, and Calculate (Marginal Effects) Age Age All Boys Girls 6-12 13-18 Ability to read Sports at school 0.0497 NS - 0.0999 - Sports elsewhere 0.052 0.0522 0.0562 0.1027 0.0078 Ability to write Sports at school 0.0554 NS - 0.1051 - Sports elsewhere 0.0571 0.0631 NS 0.1093 0.0084 Ability to calculate Sports at school 0.0367 NS 0.0551 0.0774 - Sports elsewhere 0.0322 0.0374 NS 0.0693 NS Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019a). Note: NS = not statistically significant at 10 percent level. 47. These are relatively large effects which may be biased upwards due to the risk of omitted variable bias. For example, at the risk of suggesting a cliché, it could be that on average children and youth who engage in sports regularly and competitively are more driven and ambitious than those not engaging in sports. This seems to be one of the reasons why being a competitive athlete is sometimes considered as a positive signal by firms for hiring decision. If this were to be the case, the children’s inherent characteristics rather than the practice of sports itself could be leading to positive results for literacy and numeracy. Also, since engaging in sports is more likely among more privileged groups, despite the fact that controls are included in the regression for wealth quintiles, the variable on participation in sports could still capture some of the potential positive effects for literacy and numeracy associated with better conditions at home. Finally, since schools play a role in access to sports, it could also be that the sports variable in school picks up some of the effects of better endowed schools (those able to provide sports activities). Still, the fact that the marginal effects are positive and statistically significant is encouraging and conforms to the literature. Benefits from Artistic Activities 48. A similar analysis is conducted to assess whether higher participation in artistic activities could be beneficial for educational outcomes (Nayihouba and Wodon, 2019b). In a review for OECD countries, Vincent-Lancrin et al. (2013) note that in the United States suggests that participation in a larger number of arts courses in school is associated with higher educational achievement, but the results do not hold in the United Kingdom. Music education is correlated with academic performance in some topics, but not all, and effects in a longitudinal study vanished after a few years. For theater, the evidence suggests gains in verbal skills, but not academic gains, and a similar conclusion is made for visual arts – some gains are observed in geometrical reasoning but not more broadly. On dance, the 22 authors suggest that the evidence remains too limited to draw conclusions. Results are also mixed for motivation and socio-emotional skills. The authors conclude that given the evidence, the main justification for arts education should be for arts’ sake, and not for its “collateral benefits� in other areas. 49. Another review by Wan et al. (2018) includes studies published more recently. While the authors note that many studies do not meet the minimum threshold in terms of the validity of the empirical evidence for being included in the review, the average effect in well- designed studies is positive and statistically significant, with effect sizes similar, and in some case above those of interventions in other education areas. It seems fair to conclude that there is less evidence that participation in artistic activities helps students in academic and other areas than is the case for sports. But a few studies are now emerging that suggest potential academic and other benefits from arts education, as is the case of Bowen and Kisida (2019) in Houston. 50. The literature on the impact of participation in artistic activities on academic and other outcomes for children in developing countries is more limited and it tends to be more qualitative and anecdotal. Even though there are examples of rigorous impact evaluations, those studies tend to be rare, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In the DRC and in a few other countries, an intervention by MindLeaps supported cognitive development and social-emotional learning through dance for out of school youth. The intervention’s dance curriculum aims to achieve gains in seven areas: memorization, language, grit, discipline, teamwork, self-esteem, and creativity. Preliminary results for Rwanda suggest statistically significant gains in many of these areas (Junkin et al., 2018), but the sample size for the intervention was small (99 youth) and further validation would be needed to ensure the robustness of these results. 51. Table 6 provides basic statistics of literacy and numeracy overall, and by gender, age, type of schooling, quintiles of wealth, and participation in artistic activities. Nine in ten children and youth are declared as having the ability to read, write, and calculate, which is high for a country like the DRC even in a sample focused on the capital city. Girls tend to do slightly better than boys, and as expected older children do much better than younger children. Table 6 also shows that as expected, children who have no education are highly unlikely to be able to read, write, and calculate (in all cases the shares are below eight percent). By contrast, for children who have a primary or secondary education, the statistics are much higher, especially at the secondary level where virtually all children are able to read, write, and calculate. Differences by type of schools are not large, but private schools tend to do worse. As expected, children from higher quintiles of wealth tend to do better. 52. Finally, children participating in artistic activities tend to do better than those who do not, with substantial differences at about ten to fifteen percentage points between the two groups depending on the indicator considered as shown in Figure 7. The question is whether these statistical differences hold after controlling for other factors affecting these outcomes through regression analysis. 23 Figure 7: Participation in Artistic Activities, Literacy, and Numeracy (%) Ability to calculate Ability to write Ability to read 0 20 40 60 80 100 Participates in artistic activities Does not participate in activities Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019b). Table 6: Basic Statistics on Literacy and Numeracy (%) Ability Ability Ability to read to write to calculate All 89.8 87.6 91.4 Gender Boys 82.7 80.3 84.6 Girls 84.5 82.4 85.6 Age 6-12 years old 75.9 72.6 77.7 13-18 years Old 94.5 93.9 95.6 Education No education 7.0 4.3 7.3 Primary 85.3 82.0 87.4 Secondary and higher 97.8 97.7 98.6 Type of school Public non-conv. 92.4 91.3 92.9 Public conv. 92.3 89.6 93.4 Private 88.6 86.7 90.0 Out of school 87.4 84.1 92.3 Wealth quintiles Poorest Quintile 70.9 67.9 72.3 Quintile 2 75.4 73.6 78.8 Quintile 3 86.3 83.8 87.8 Quintile 4 91.8 90.0 92.1 Richest Quintile 92.4 90.2 92.9 Artistic activities No 83.1 80.8 84.4 Yes 95.6 95.0 100.0 Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019b). 53. In order to assess the potential impact of participation in artistic activities on education outcomes, regression analysis is used. Given data constraints, the analysis should be considered as tentative only. The idea is to test whether after controlling for the potential 24 impact of other variables on literacy and numeracy, there is an association between participating in artistic activities and educational outcomes. Based on the literature, one would expect a positive association, but causality will still remain to be established and thus no strong conclusion can be drawn with that association. 54. Key results from the regression analysis for the ability to read and write are provided in Table 7 (using probit regressions and reporting marginal effects at the mean of the sample; the effects for the ability to calculate as now shown due to perfect predictions). Engaging in artistic activities is apparently associated with gains after controlling for other variables. Most of the effects are statistically significant (a few variables drop out in sub-sample regressions due to collinearity, especially in the case of numeracy). Note that the regressions cannot be estimated adequately for numeracy due to lack of sufficient variation in the sample. The interpretation of the first coefficient in the Table (0.0537 for the ability to read) suggests that controlling for other variables in the regression, children who regularly practice artistic activities have a likelihood of being able to read that is higher by 5.37 percentage points. When a coefficient is not statistically significant, this is indicated by “NS�. When they are statistically significant, the effects are in the range of five to ten percentage points for literacy and three to eight percentage points for numeracy. Importantly, the effects are only signaling associations, so that they need not imply any causality. Table 7: Potential Effect of Artistic Activities on Ability to Read and Write (Marginal Effects) Age Age All Boys Girls 6-12 13-18 Effect on ability to read 0.0537 0.0470 0.0668 0.1028 0.0077 Effect on ability to write 0.0373 NS 0.0373 0.1008 NS Source: Nayihouba and Wodon (2019b). 55. These are relatively large effects which may be biased upwards due to the risk of omitted variable bias. For example, at the risk of suggesting a cliché, it could be that on average children and youth who participate in arts regularly are more creative and perhaps also more driven and ambitious than those not participating. If this were to be the case, the children’s inherent characteristics rather than participation in artistic activities could be leading to positive results for the ability to read and write. Also, as for sports. since participating in artistic activities is more likely among more privileged groups, despite the fact that controls are included in the regression for wealth quintiles, the variable on participation in artistic activities could still capture some of the potential positive effects for literacy associated with better conditions at home. Finally, since schools play a role in artistic activities, it could also be that the variable on participation picks up some of the effects of better endowed schools (those able to provide artistic activities). Still, the fact that the marginal effects are positive and statistically significant is encouraging and conforms to the literature. 3-5 - Institutional assessment of the infrastructures and gaps. 56. A survey on the country’s sports and cultural curricular/co-curricular and extracurricular activities was conducted to collect the views of key stakeholders and the actual application 25 of the country’s Law and principles in these areas. Focus groups, interviews and consultations with Government officials, public and private schools, socio-cultural institutions and groups, sports and culture experts, parents and students were organized to identify the existing opportunities in public/non-public, formal/non-formal learning and other institutions that can be harnessed to provide children, adolescents and youth (both in- and out-of-school) with opportunities to build their self-esteem, dialogue and interact on a neutral platform. The results of these assessments are presented below: Communities and social activities and events in out of school settings 57. Infrastructure crisis. While there have been considerable efforts from the government to strengthen football activities with the rehabilitation of three municipal stadiums in Kinshasa (Paul Bonga Bonga Stadium of Barumbu, Jean Kembo Stadium of Matete and Jean Muntubile Stadium of Ngaliema) with undergoing negotiations to extend this initiative throughout the national territory, access to these facilities often come at a steep price for out-of-school youths. Municipalities exclusively lease stadiums to local football leagues’ championships and training activities often leaving out-of-school youths behind. The Ministry of Sport and Leisure recognizes the existence of 14 sport federations of which only football and basketball encompasses for the most organized and practiced categories. 58. A particular challenge lies in access to quality and well-maintained indoor and outdoor municipal and school facilities, as well as to associated amenities (e.g., changing rooms, showers) and equipment. This is further exacerbated by a need for strengthened coordination between the different stakeholders (Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports, national leagues) and adequately prepared teaching personnel, as well as the widespread perception that girls are more reluctant to participate in physical education. For example, the analysis from the Allo école platform shows that schools face tremendous infrastructure resource constraints. The lack of sports equipment and trained teachers were the most cited by directors, teachers and students at both primary and secondary education levels. At the sub-district level, lack of both physical and qualified human resources are significant binding constraints to sports and cultural activities (Figure 8). 26 Figure 8: Key challenges to sports and cultural activities development in schools both lack of sports equipment lack of trained teachers 10 1 8 15 7 5 13 36 15 13 25 19 25 31 77 72 77 70 62 65 36 primary secondary primary secondary primary secondary All Directors Teachers Students Education administrators (sub-district) Source: Authors’ estimates based on data from Allo école platform, 2018 59. Funding crisis. The organization of cultural, sport and recreational activities requires full involvement of the provincial governor and are generally sponsored by the latter to encourage young talents. Governors and head of municipalities also solicit sponsorships from private companies established in their jurisdiction and the intervention of other partners in the proposed activities. Unfortunately, the low budget allocated to social activities in each province and/or municipality does not provide the necessary fund needed to organize events that directly impact out-of-school youths. A clear example is the inability to organize municipal and inter-neighborhood championships which often requires care of athletes in terms of equipment and in-kind or financial motivations (prizes). As a result, several championships which were the most accessible for these youths have been on the decline for several years. If municipal informal sport leagues still hold their championships today, fewer than 10 informal teams participate in which women are often not represented. Such championships lack substance and credibility even among young people because the athletes who win the titles often lack the means to join major leagues at the provincial or national level. 60. The low budget for sport and cultural activities is also shown in the analysis from the Allo école. The assessment of municipality levels’ observations reveals that there is limited budget for organizing sports and cultural activities. Only 27 percent of education administrators at the sub-district level, claim that there is an allocated budget to organize sport and cultural inter-schools’ competitions within the municipality. Sports/culture in schools’ settings: Institutional and training issues. 61. The department of games, leisure and school sports (DILSS) in the ministry of education, together with administrative bodies at the district and sub-district levels (PROVED and Sous-PROVED) are responsible for the implementation of sports and cultural teaching as stated in the national curriculum. They are also in charge of overseeing extracurricular activities such as: (i) inter-school multidisciplinary sport championship from Mid- November to the end of April of each school year and (2) an array of cultural activities 27 such as theatrical performances, guided cultural tours, various games, dance, music, cultural Olympic school games to name but a few. 62. However, noncompliance with regulations is particularly evident in terms of implementation of the Figure 9: Repartition of qualified curriculum, which is outdated and teachers in schools does not focus on healthy well- Trained Teachers being related to constraints/active 16% lifestyles. Applications of these statutory activities, accounting for a total of two hours per week at the primary and secondary levels, is Untrained Teachers often problematic due to the 84% unwillingness of school level governing bodies to decrease hourly volumes reserved for the practice of school subjects deemed more important. A limited number Source: DRC Sport and Development Survey in Kinshasa April-May 18 of schools offer cultural activities, these are mainly traditional dances and songs during special events such as visits. 63. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education has voiced major concerns about the quality and professionalism of physical education teacher training, teaching resources, and supervision of practices. Specifically, in primary schools, generalist teachers are teaching physical education classes. While a degree in physical education is a prerequisite for teaching the subject at secondary level, evidence indicates that an overwhelming 90 per cent or more of secondary, technical and vocational and professional schools also deploy generalist practitioners to teach physical education. 64. As a result, sports and cultural education are considered to have lower status than other subjects in school, this is not only for teaching institutions but also for most students who lack interest as the system does not push students to professionalization. The lack of infrastructure together with the lack of educational materials as well as trained teachers contribute to the decline of social activities in schools. Section 4: Next steps in research and practice 65. As stated above, building long-term resilience and sustained economic growth requires the country to invest in the quality of its human capital. Especially in skills that are increasingly important in labor markets: advanced cognitive skills such as complex problem-solving, socio behavioral skills such as teamwork, and skill combinations that are predictive of adaptability such as reasoning and self-efficacy15. The following recommendations are made based on a consensus that the benefit of sports and cultural 15 The changing nature of work. The World bank, 2019 28 activities can only be achieved through well designed approaches underpinned by a number of principles such as tolerance, solidarity, self-esteem, cooperation and respect. 66. Improve the collection, analysis and use of data of the impact of sports and cultural activities on building children and youth’s skills. Based on research literature in developing countries, further analysis on the potential benefit of sports and cultural activities to build these skills and improve education outcomes would provide useful insights about how to offset the potentially harmful influence of risk factors accumulated over many years of a child’s or youth’s development. 67. Recognize the benefits that sports, and cultural activities bring, particularly in disadvantaged communities and increase government attention to these activities. The key to building a sustainable sports and culture future is to make these activities a priority in education and communities. The necessity for the country to have a clear legal framework that allows, not only unifying practices despite the variety of ethnic groups, but also set the ground for the integral development is especially important in the DRC context where there are more than 450 ethnic groups speaking as many local languages in a country of 2,345,405 square Kilometers. 68. Raising awareness about sport and cultural activities as development tool and wellbeing through youth to youth as well as community-based activities. A specific attention will be required in disadvantaged communities as the challenge of creating a sports and culture friendly environment may be harder to achieve amongst out-of-school youths as most remain stuck in a cycle of poverty and social deprivation. Conclusions 69. The use of sport and culture to prevent conflict and advance peace is a relatively new field and evidence-based guidance with respect to policies and programs is limited. This report sought to show how sports and culture could be used to equip vulnerable in/out of school youth in DRC with skills and assets essential to live a productive life. 70. The recognition of the development potential of sport and culture has been adopted by the United Nations mainly through the Sport for Development and peace International Working Group (2008) as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that acknowledges the role of culture across many of the SDGs including quality education (SDG 4), economic growth and sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDGs 8 and 12) and inclusive and peaceful societies (SDG 16). 71. Several researches suggest that participation in Sports and cultural activities can be beneficial for children and youth for leadership, team work, critical and creative thinking, self-esteem. This is even more critical in fragile and violence affected contexts, given that culture in all its forms can help community reconstruct, restore psychological well-being, bring possibilities of reconciliation and social cohesion by mobilizing communities around its care and management. As such, in a country where most children have been affected by fragility and conflict, such activities may be beneficial. In Sierra Leone for example 29 football, dances and confession process are used, to help ex-combatant youth reintegrate into their communities. 72. In DRC, although the constitution of the country and the many official texts enshrine sports and culture and mandate the state to guarantee the right for these activities, in the absence of a strong government strategy that advance this agenda, they remain limited. Associations are using activities such as Capoeira to help demobilized children and adolescents from armed groups and victims of violence to build self-confidence and emotional strengthening and overcome trauma. However, there is no systematic approach using sport and cultural activities to build human capital in communities and provide marginalized individuals with experiences to enhance their health, self-esteem, life skills, employability, and social integration. 73. Evidence from surveys conducted to inform this ASA has shown that the more complex challenges which reduced the exposure of young people to these activities include limited training infrastructure and equipment, lack of qualified trainers and lack of private and/or state funded programs. Additionally, while contributing to a small but growing body of work on resilience, optimism and social well-being of children and youth leaving in constraints environment, the study highlights the need for more detailed analysis in order to better understand the interconnections within/between sports and culture-based approaches that could maximize learning and social inclusion in DRC in order to provide policy makers with a solid foundation on which to build their policies and programs. In that regard, evidence is needed to document the extent to which sports and cultural interventions successfully improve the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of in and out of school children in the DRC context. 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