Demand-Driven Jobs Aid Women’s Recovery from GBV in Fragile Regions of the DRC

The World Bank Group, alongside Panzi Foundation, Heal Africa, and the Fonds Social de la République Démocratique du Congo (FSRDC), has delivered a compelling intervention aimed at transforming the livelihoods of gender-based violence (GBV) survivors and vulnerable women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In its 2025 report Using Demand-Driven Market Analysis to Improve Livelihoods, the initiative documents how a participatory and data-informed approach can drive meaningful recovery in some of the world’s most fragile settings. Developed under the $100 million DRC GBV Prevention and Response Project launched in 2018, the initiative complements psychosocial and legal services with practical economic support, recognizing that financial independence is critical for sustainable healing and social reintegration.

DRC’s context is stark: nearly half of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced intimate partner violence, and over 27 percent have been victims of sexual violence. These grim realities are compounded by decades of conflict, which have dismantled institutions and entrenched poverty. Against this backdrop, the project’s market-driven livelihood support program sought to reduce financial vulnerability while reshaping harmful gender norms. At its core was a highly participatory market analysis aimed at identifying locally viable, safe, and profitable income-generating activities (IGAs) for women in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Tanganyika provinces.

Building Livelihoods Through Participatory Market Analysis

The design of the intervention hinged on a demand-driven market analysis using Kotler’s classic marketing mix, the four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. Conducted between 2020 and 2022, the analysis drew from 122 focus groups and 1,464 participants, including community members, local business actors, and NGO partners. A deliberate 25/75 ratio was used, giving weight to both beneficiaries’ lived experiences and market actors’ practical insights. Researchers visited markets, training centers, and successful projects like kitchen gardens and artisanal cheesemaking to understand what works.

Workshops were conducted to design data collection tools that accounted for gender-specific risks such as mobility constraints, safety threats, and social stigma. Certain livelihood options, such as those requiring solitary work or proximity to high-risk areas like mines, were ruled out. The resulting assessments considered not only income potential and startup time, but also the consistency of customer demand and the accessibility of inputs like land or equipment. This careful calibration led to the identification of the most promising livelihoods by province.

Local Solutions With High Impact Potential

The market analysis revealed a strong preference across provinces for agriculture and livestock, given their relatively high returns and alignment with traditional practices. In Tanganyika, monthly incomes from agriculture and livestock averaged above 780,000 Congolese Francs, among the highest across all IGAs. In South Kivu, baking emerged as a particularly lucrative sector, with women earning over 700,000 Francs monthly. This discovery led the project to fund the construction of four ovens at Panzi Foundation centers, which continue to serve trainees even after the project’s formal end.

Sewing and tailoring were chosen as the most appropriate option for participants with disabilities or mobility restrictions, given their seated nature and steady market demand. In addition to providing technical skills, the project ensured participants received reinsertion kits worth around $100, which helped them launch their chosen businesses. More than 7,000 square meters of land were identified and made accessible for agricultural training and production, some of it donated or leased by community stakeholders.

By the end of the training phase, a total of 1,516 women had completed vocational courses in agriculture, livestock, tailoring, baking, cooking, and soapmaking, each tailored to local demand and environmental realities. Focus group feedback highlighted not only increased incomes but also improved confidence, autonomy, and community acceptance for participating women.

From Training to Community Transformation

The initiative reached far beyond its original target. While only 3,800 women were expected to benefit from economic support, over 87,000 accessed various services, including vocational training, literacy education, and financial inclusion programs. More than 27,000 women joined 1,128 women-only Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), many of which continued operating independently after project closure. Meanwhile, 58,500 people, including male partners, participated in dialogue groups focused on promoting non-violence and shared household decision-making.

These discussions, built on the “Engaging Men through Accountable Practice” (EMAP) framework, fostered attitudinal shifts toward gender equality. Field reports captured instances of women reinvesting their earnings, acquiring assets, and even launching new income-generating groups without external support. In Bulenga, for example, a group of women trained in baking pooled their savings to construct their oven after witnessing the success of the community ovens' project.

Lessons for Future Policy and Practice

Although the project faced formidable external shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, Ebola outbreaks, volcanic eruptions, and the sudden closure of the FSRDC, it remained agile and adaptive. However, the project lacked a sufficiently detailed monitoring and evaluation framework to capture all economic outcomes, which limited its ability to quantify long-term impacts. Despite this, process evaluations, field visits, and anecdotal evidence suggest high satisfaction and sustained use of the assets provided.

The experience affirms several key lessons: engaging market actors is essential to select viable livelihoods; flexible, locally driven implementation builds resilience; and sustained economic inclusion requires confronting social norms through deliberate male engagement and literacy training. Importantly, the project demonstrated that empowering women economically is not only a means of recovery from GBV but also a force for broader social transformation. The model has already inspired similar initiatives, including a World Bank-supported project in conflict-affected regions of Ethiopia.

By fusing market intelligence with gender-sensitive programming, the DRC GBV project has illuminated a promising path forward, one where livelihoods offer not just income but dignity, healing, and hope.