07/06/13 Norwegian Refugee Council – Congo-Kinshasa: Children of Peace Initiative in the DRC

 Today displaced
children in the Democratic Republic of Congo are accessing education due to the
Nobel Peace Prize grant.

The Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) has suffered decades of conflict and recurrent
displacements leading to a massive number of internally displaced persons.

This pattern
repeated itself with the violence of 2012 leading to the displacement of
750.000 people in the North Kivu area alone.

Catching up
again

The conflict has
meant serious detriment to children through the disruption of their education
and their increased risk of being forced into recruitment, being caught between
fighting and experiencing direct violence.

As one of the
partners of the EU Children of Peace initiative NRC works to ensure that
children who have been forced to flee can get back into school.

Displacement
results in months or even years of lost education. Girls and boys who have to
leave their homes often drop out of school or have problems getting back into
school when they find stability.

"I used to
feel embarrassed about being chased away from school. Sometimes I would tell
myself that if my Father was still alive, I would study like all the other
children. Now that I have started school again, I am joyful because I feel like
all the other children as I study with my friends", says one young boy who
lost his father due to the conflict.

With help from the
EU Children of Peace initiative he is now attending catch up classes that will
enable him to catch up on the education he has lost while being displaced and
prepare him to restart schooling when the next school year opens in September.

Many children lost
all their school equipment when they fled. For that reason, NRC provides basic
school kits containing of pens, books and other scholastic materials.

Hope for a
better future

There are often few
opportunities for recreation and play in a camp. To provide children and youth
with meaningful and educational activities, NRC is providing recreational
activities and basic vocational training.

For a former child
soldier, these activities have brought hope:

"Now, with the
opportunity to learn carpentry and being occupied every afternoon with
activities organized by the primary school at NRC's Masisi center, I am finding
my dignity, my hope for a better future".

In North Kivu more than 42 000 children are in need of
education assistance due to displacement.

According to Nadia
Bernasconi, Education manager for NRC in DRC: "Education in such a complex
context as Masisi Territory is essential because it is a protection tool which
provides activities in safe, protective and surveyed spaces to give children a
sense of normalcy amidst the chaos.

All education
activities organized for children in this context help them build resilience
and prepare for their future, thus enabling each child to grow, develop and
become an active and valuable member of their society".

Globally 28 million
children affected by conflict are denied their right to education. Despite
enormous needs education in emergencies is underfunded: only 2% of humanitarian
funding goes to education.

"With the EU
Children of Peace initiative, the European Union has shown its commitment to
ensuring that conflict affected children get the education they are entitled
to. It is an important step in increasing the recognition of education as an
integrated part of humanitarian response.

That EU chose to
use the Nobel Peace Prize money for education in emergencies is a signal of the
importance education plays in the role of children and youth affected by
conflict", says Silje Sjøvaag Skeie, education advisor with the Norwegian
Refugee Council.

About the
project:

EU has donated €2
million, made up of Nobel Peace Prize money matched by the EU, to the Children
for peace initiative.

A joint proposal
between Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council received €900,000
from the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department, and was one of four
proposals to receive money through the initiative.

The NRC
project started February 2013. Since then the project has achieved:

5982 students have
benefited from school kits: 2708 girls and 3274 boys.

2847 students have
benefited from catch-up classes: 1359 girls and 1488 boys.

2332 students have
been integrated into schools: 1133 girls and 1199 boys.

9 pedagogical kits
and 9 recreational kits distributed.

2 child-friendly
spaces constructed and set up and 6 equipped classrooms and 8 latrines almost
finalized at Neema Primary Schoool.

Training of 51
teachers and principals, on Child rights and protection.

Training of 26
members of the Child Protection Network

Save the Children
will provide education to 4,000 Somali children living in refugee camps in the
border town of Dollo Ado in Ethiopia. The Norwegian Refugee
Council focuses on 9,000 children affected by the conflict in Petit Nord Kivu
DRC.