On Friday, September 13, 2024, the conference room at ERAIFT hosted the public defense of the doctoral thesis titled "Contribution to the Analysis of Decentralized and Participatory Governance of Drinking Water: The Contestability of ASUREP in the Peri-Urban Areas of Kinshasa (DRC)." This thesis was defended both in presence and via videoconference by Hyppolite DITONA TSUMBU, a Congolese national, before an international jury composed of professors from ERAIFT, the Catholic University of Louvain, and the University of Kinshasa. The thesis provided a better understanding of ASUREP management, the importance of communication in this management, the need to establish a regulatory body to oversee the expansion of ASUREP in the water sector in Kinshasa, and the impact of the city’s sanitation on the quality of water supplied by ASUREP. Research perspectives were proposed to the attending researchers to enhance the holistic management of ASUREP. Furthermore, it should be noted that this thesis received the 'highest distinction' for its scientific quality. 

ERAIFT thanks the Ministry of Higher and University Education for authorizing it to organize the doctoral program. It also expresses its gratitude to the members of the jury for their commitment and support in the evaluation of this doctoral thesis. ERAIFT also thanks the Catholic University of Louvain, the National School of Water and Environmental Engineering of Strasbourg (ENGEES), as well as the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) for their collaboration