Projects

Background information

Despite an important legal framework to protect children’s rights in the DRC, many are victims of abuse, discrimination, exclusion or exploitation.
In schools in the Uvira territories of South Kivu, there are still many cases of abuse and mistreatment such as unauthorized punishment or exclusion. Another worrying phenomenon is on the rise: the exchange of sexual acts between teachers and girls in order to ensure their academic success. The school, which is supposed to be a link for the protection of children, thus becomes a place of predation, and few girls dare to reveal the abuses they suffer. This new form of sexual exploitation also has serious health consequences, including an increase in the number of early pregnancies, clandestine abortions, but also an accelerated spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, among these young girls.

Project description

The capacities of the 20 youth clubs “Respect for/advocacy for the rights of the child” set up in 2013 will be strengthened in order to ensure respect for the rights of young people and protect them against abuses of power by certain teachers in unira primary and secondary schools in South Kivu.
Each club is composed of 10 students, girls and boys combined. Some 200 young members of these clubs will be trained on how to run their club, children’s rights and existing legal provisions, as well as the system for reporting and communicating cases of child abuse in their schools. A training workshop on national and international legislation on the rights of the child was also organized for parent, teacher and local authority committees (70 people). 10,000 leaflets will be published in addition to the production and broadcasting of 3 radio programmes and 3 reports. 6o awareness-raising activities on children’s rights (poems, music, theatre, competitions, etc.) will also be organized. In total, some 16,000 students will be better defended against abuses by some teachers and community members
The project will be managed by the Centre d’Encadrement des Jeunes pour le Développement Rural (CEJEDER). CEJEDER’s Centre d’Ecoute, d’Information ET DE Convivialité des Jeunes Adolescents (CEICA) will continue to provide school supervision at the end of the project. EJEDER will contribute €2,146. project and the beneficiaries €412.

General objective

> Contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights of children and young people in schools.

Specific objectives
> Combat sexual abuse in schools.
> Popularize children’s rights and the legal mechanisms protecting them among students, teachers, parents, political and administrative authorities and communities in general
> Strengthen children’s capacities to be active actors in the promotion and protection of their rights.

> 10,000 leaflets on children’s rights and duties are published and distributed in schools and communities.
> 6 radio programs are produced and broadcast.
> 20 “Respect for/advocacy for the rights of the child” clubs are operational.
> 200 children and young people trained to better monitor, identify and report abuses against some students in schools and communities.
> 70 teachers, parents and local authorities are sensitized on the role of school clubs and identification and reporting mechanisms.
> Some 16,000 primary and secondary school students are better protected against abuses of power by some teachers.
> Teachers who sexually abuse students are identified and punished.
> The number of early pregnancies and clandestine abortions among teenage students is decreasing
> The prevalence rate of sexually transmitted diseases among girls in the project schools is decreasing.