constituteproject.org • Source of constitutional authority PDF generated: 18 Apr 2016, 15:22 Preamble We, the Congolese People, • Reference to fraternity/solidarity United by destiny and history encompassing the noble ideas of liberty, of fraternity, of solidarity, of justice, of peace and of work; • Motives for writing constitution • Regional group(s) Animated by our common will to build, in the heart of Africa, a State of Law and a powerful and prosperous Nation, founded on a real political, economic, social and cultural democracy; Considering that injustice and its corollaries, impunity, nepotism, regionalism, tribalism, clanism and patronage, by their multiple vicissitudes, are at the origin of the general decline of values and of the ruin of the country; Affirming our determination to protect and to consolidate the national independence and unity with respect for our diversities and for our positive particularities; • International law • International human rights treaties Reaffirming our adherence and our attachment to the Conventions of the United Nations on the Rights of the Child and on the Rights of Women, particularly to the objective of the parity of man-woman representation within the institutions of the country as well as to the international instruments concerning the protection and promotion of human rights; • Regional group(s) Moved by the will to see all the African States united and working in concert with a view of promoting and of consolidating African unity through the continental, regional or sub-regional organizations to offer better perspectives of development and of socio-economic progress to the Peoples of Africa; Attached to the promotion of mutually advantageous international cooperation and to the rapprochement of the peoples of the world, with respect to their respective identities and to the principles of sovereignty and of the territorial integrity of each State; Reaffirming our inalienable and imprescriptible right to organize ourselves freely and to develop our political, economic, social and cultural life, following our own genius; • God or other deities Conscious of our responsibilities before God, the Nation, Africa and the World; Solemnly declare to adopt this Constitution. TITLE I: OF THE GENERAL PROVISIONS Chapter 1: Of the State and Sovereignty Section 1: Of the State Article 1 The Democratic Republic of the Congo is, within its frontiers of 30 June 1960, a State of Law, independent, sovereign, united and indivisible, social, democratic and secular. • National flag Its emblem is the sky-blue flag decorated with a yellow star in the superior left corner and transversed on the bias by a red band finely outlined in yellow. Congo (Democratic Republic of the) 2005 (rev. 2011) Page 4