Perception and Preservation of Archives at the "Studies and Planning" Directorate of the Ministry of Health, Hygiene, and Prevention, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

The administrative services of the Ministry of Health are not immune to the multifaceted crises affecting the Congolese public administration. As administration is both the foundation and backbone of public management in a country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a nation where archival science, in all its nobility, plays a vital role in good governance. If administrations continue to thrive at the beginning of the 20th century, it is due to the importance of archival documents, which every modern and organized nation strives to preserve well, as an essential tool of national memory. Archives are data with an indefinite lifespan and cannot be materials that disappear. The observation within the General Secretariat of Health is that archives are thrown haphazardly into dark rooms where they are exposed to the elements and various kinds of rodents. Under these conditions, the disappearance of historical data is inevitable, which could constitute a significant loss, especially as some documents exist in a single copy and, once destroyed, they cannot be reconstructed.