The Republic of Congo has witnessed a 40% decline in living standards since independence from France in 1960 since when it has mainly been ruled as a totalitarian state with corruption being cited as one major cause of this deterioration; (in May 2009 a French magistrate opened a probe into alleged embezzlement by President Sassou). With a population of just under four million and a life expectancy of around 54 years the country squandered its oil revenues and economic mismanagement has left it with unemployment at over 50% and with over two thirds of its population living on under $1 a day. Yet the country is one of Africa's leading sub-Saharan oil producers.

The situation for children inside the Republic of Congo today is mixed. As with so many African nations, the Republic of Congo is a destination country for trafficked children for the purpose of enforced labour, domestic servitude and exploitation, however the transitional government is making some progress on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and has recently enacted laws on child protection.

Like in so many sub-Sahara countries, AIDS is a major issue inside the Republic of Congo with 69,000 of the country's child population of some 1,716,000 orphaned by the disease with an estimated 6,600 children infected themselves. The government has also been overseeing a program to ensure that all children have a birth certificate for, without such a document, children have no rights as they cannot even prove their country of origin.

There are four major ethnic groups inside the Republic of Congo ~ 85% of whom live in the capital of Brazzaville or the smaller cities ~ these groups are the Kongo, the M'Bochi, the Sangha and the Teke. Additionally the Baka people, often called pygmies, live in the country and rainforest regions. This video provides a glimpse of daily life inside the Republic of Congo.