Advancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda through Health System Reconstruction: The Case of the Catholic Church in the Nyankunde Health Zone, DR Congo

A consistent and longstanding focus of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda is the disproportionate impact of armed conflict upon the health of women, especially in resource poor countries characterized by weak and underfunded health systems. In such settings, faith-based actors often stand in the gap and offer basic continuity of care, but how well they succeed in meeting women’s health needs is not widely known. This article offers a qualitative case study of how Catholic institutions have responded to these needs and supported health system reconstruction in a war-ridden health zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Drawing upon interviews with Catholic administrators, nurses, midwives, and community health workers, it documents how Catholic health personnel, many of them women, have performed the unheralded work of rebuilding the local health system while also exposing challenges that hinder this work, including insufficient public investment, financial barriers for patients, and inadequate compensation and security for staff. It concludes that a greater commitment to health system reconstruction on the part of both states and faith communities is needed in order to advance the health dimensions of the WPS agenda going forward.