TITLE:
Informal Associations and Mutual Societies as a Self-Insurance Strategy for Informal Sector Workers in South Kivu Province: An Alternative Solution to Social Protection in the Democratic Republic of Congo
AUTHORS:
Pascal Bizibu Kushombere, Cyprien Munyashongore, Sébastien Manirakiza, Bazilashe Balegamire Juvénal, Jean-Berckmans Muhigwa Bahananga, Perpétue Sifa Makorongo
KEYWORDS:
Associations, Informal Mutual Societies, Health Self-Insurance Strategy, Informal Sector Workers, South-Kivu Province, An Alternative Solution to Social Protection, Democratic Republic of Congo
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.2,
February
26,
2026
ABSTRACT: Access to healthcare is a concern historically rooted in the construction of social protection and the welfare state (1). Beyond this crisis, the right of access to healthcare for all is a myth in the DRC in general, and in South-Kivu in particular. In South-Kivu, only two to three people in ten have access to healthcare, even though it should be defended as a fundamental value of the healthcare system and affirmed as a prerequisite of any healthcare policy. Today, as a result of the powerlessness of the state and the poverty experienced by the population of South-Kivu most of whom work in the informal sector, grassroots players are turning to savings and credit association models (VSCA) as well as informal community-based mutual societies. The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSCA) and informal mutual societies to the self-care of the population in the province of Sud-Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It consists of identifying the socio-economic characteristics of workers in the informal sector who are members of associations and various informal mutuality’s, in order to assess the level of membership and the impact of Village Savings and Credit Associations (VSCA) on health self-insurance. Qualitative methodology was adopted. Data collection was based on a questionnaire sent to leaders of informal sector workers’ associations in nine of the thirty-four Health Zones in South Kivu province. Data processing and analysis were based on the similarity of responses to the same question. Although there are constraints at both individual and collective levels, joining the VSL enables previously vulnerable informal sector workers to get by.