The Democratic Republic of Congo has appointed its first ever female prime minister. Planning minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka has been named as the successor to Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, who resigned as the prime minister last month after three years in the role.
Before entering parliament, Suminwa was an economist, working for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the coordinator for the Consolidation of Peace and Strengthening of Democracy pillar in the nation’s capital of Kinshasa.
On Monday, Suminwa commented on her new role in an interview on national television, saying she is “aware of the great responsibility” she has been handed, and that her government “will work for peace and the development of the country.”
In her role as prime minister, Suminwa will be working alongside President Felix Tshisekedi as he prepares to execute his promises from his election campaign last year. Priorities include employment, free primary medication, and national cohesion.
Tshisekedi was re-elected in December last year after a hotly contested presidential race. He was inaugurated into his second term in January this year. He was first elected in 2019, after serving as the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress after the death of his father.
The DRC, home to roughly 100 million people, has been mired by decades of conflict and weak governance. Women and girls face disproportionate levels of sexual crimes and child marriage. A study in 2018 found that over a third of females aged 15-49 years were subject to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner.
In July 2023, UNHCR warned of mounting violence against women and girls in the country, after resurgent violence between non-state armed groups and government forces saw millions of people displaced, along with a rise in reports of sexual violence against women and girls.
As one of the world’s poorest countries, roughly seven million people have been internally displaced by conflict in the DRC, according to the United Nations.