Comprehensive support for the reintegration of children and young people who are victims of violence in detention centers in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Location: Goma, North Kivu.
- Duration: July 2023 to December 2024.
- Participants: 150 children and young people, ages 7 to 17, held in Juvenile Detention Centers in Goma, DRC.
- Area of Specialization: Vocational Training and Microentrepreneurship.
Starting point
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the third lowest per capita income in the world and ranks 176th out of 188 countries in the Human Development Indicator. North Kivu province has the highest poverty rates in the country, with 60% of the population living below the poverty line, out of a total of approximately 6 million people living in this province. It also has very high unemployment and food insecurity rates.
The large number of displaced people flocking to the city of Goma, serving as a refuge, has tripled its population in just a few years. Living conditions are increasingly precarious, and a large portion of the population lacks access to drinking water or electricity. Residents suffer murder, looting, forced displacement, sexual violence, and more. Some of this violence is perpetrated by minors, mostly former child soldiers who return to the city and, rejected by their families, find a way to support themselves through crime.
The violent context of the city of Goma turns many children into both victims and executioners of their own reality. On the one hand, they are victims of those who have removed them from their families and raised them under a criminal and military lens; they are also victims of family abandonment and child abuse, sleeping on the streets and having no safe place to live. On the other hand, they are executioners, perpetrating crimes such as robbery, murder, and rape. This often leads to their imprisonment, which impedes adequate personal development, causes and exacerbates profound lifelong trauma, and ultimately turns them into chronic criminals, marginalized by society.
Objective
The main objective of this project is to reverse this situation and provide opportunities for reintegration and social reinsertion to 150 children held in Juvenile Detention Centers (EGEE: Établissement d’Éducation et de Garde d’Enfants) in the city of Goma after committing serious crimes. Their detention is primarily due to their past as former child soldiers.
What is the project about
On the one hand, and throughout the 12-month duration of the project, 150 children and young people will receive psychosocial and medical assistance at the Goma Juvenile Detention Center (EGEE) to help them recover from the traumas they have experienced at such a young age.
In addition, participants will be offered creative and recreational socio-educational activities aimed at educating them about values, peaceful coexistence, and restoring children’s social sphere. They will also be accompanied in awareness-raising sessions on the Child Protection Law and the Law on Sexual Violence, so that they understand their rights and the protection mechanisms that protect them.
A very important aspect of this project is the search, mediation, and family reunification of participants with their families, or with foster families, to ensure their social integration into the community once they leave the detention centers. Sometimes, the families of origin from whom they were abducted by the guerrillas, and their communities, must overcome the rejection caused by their violent past.
In addition, 80 young people between the ages of 15 and 17 will be selected to receive vocational training and guide them toward a trade or potential career path once their incarceration period ends. Depending on the vocation chosen by the beneficiaries, they will receive training in life skills, work and behavioral skills, emotional intelligence, and professional knowledge that will equip these young people with the tools to find work upon release from the detention center.
Entities that support this project
