Democratic Republic of Congo
War, hunger and disease have killed nearly 4 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last seven years. One in every five children dies before reaching their fifth birthday. In the east, more than 1 million internally displaced people still need help to meet their basic needs. The fighting has destroyed the economy and infrastructure, as well as the social fabric of families and communities.
- We’ve secured the release of 2,865 children involved with armed groups
- We’re helping 26,661 children go to primary school
- We’re reuniting 4,514 separated children with their families
- We’re vaccinating 46,709 children
- We’re providing food supplements for 1,500 malnourished children
Save the Children in the DRC
We started work in the DRC in 1994, helping children who had fled the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda. Since the war, we’ve helped reunite thousands of children with their families. Working with local and international partners, we’re getting children back to school, providing them with healthcare, and protecting them from exploitation and abuse. We’re also the lead agency for the International Save the Children Alliance’s Rewrite the Future campaign.
We’re helping children affected by conflict
International law forbids the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, but hundreds of Congolese children are still being used as soldiers, messengers, cooks or ‘wives’, who are often brutally sexually abused.
Working with our United Nations (UN) partners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), we’ve secured the release and care of 2,865 children (including 387 girls) involved with armed groups. And our family mediation work has resulted in more than 500 children (many accused of witchcraft) being reunited with their families in Kinshasa, Bukavu and Mbuji-Mayi.
We’re helping children get a quality education
Nearly half of all school-age children don’t go to school, mainly because their parents can’t afford the fees. This includes 2.5 million girls and 400,000 children who left their homes because of the war.
In the last year we’ve helped 26,661 children (including 12,365 girls) go to primary school. We’ve built and equipped classrooms in 83 schools and we’ve improved the quality of teaching by training 300 teachers. We’re helping 1,973 children who’ve missed out on school catch up through accelerated learning classes. This means helping them outside school to reach the standards they need before they can successfully go back into class with children of their own age. And 1,239 children have moved on from accelerated learning classes and are now in school.
We’re protecting children from harm
Some 15,000 children who have been separated from their families live on the streets in Kinshasa and more than 2,000 in Mbuji-Mayi, the regional capital of Kasai Oriental. Many others live in institutions.
We’ve set up and supported a network of 150 child protection committees and 35 children’s clubs in Kinshasa, Bukavu and Mbuji-Mayi, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). These committees are comprised of adults and children who have been trained in children’s rights and know how to report and follow up suspected cases of abuse. They’ve identified and reported more than 150 cases of child rape and exploitation.
We’re saving children’s lives
Many children die from preventable diseases. Among the under 5s, 30% of deaths are caused by malaria. People have to pay for healthcare and most people simply can’t afford it.
We’ve vaccinated 46,709 children against measles and distributed mosquito nets to prevent malaria to more than 15,000 households with children under five and pregnant women.
We’ve helped rebuild and equip 22 health centres, supplying medicines to 12 of them, benefiting more than 179,900 people. We’ve trained birth attendants who’ve helped 4,670 women deliver healthy babies. And we’ve provided training for 200 staff from health centres, nutrition centres and local authorities in managing malaria and other illnesses, as well as family planning and HIV prevention.
Find out more
- Download the country brief (PDF 103KB).
- Téléchargez le sommaire du pays complet en français (PDF 78KB).
- Find out how we're helping children who have been fighting someone else's war.
Related publications
- Friday 20 July 2007 Can the Powerful Protect? How the UN Security Council needs to shape up to protect children
- This study examines how well UN Security Council reports reflect the problems facing children affected by conflict.
