Schools shut in DR Congo’s North Kivu as conflict disrupts learning for 375,000 children
A report from the DRC Education Cluster, which includes Save the Children on Friday, reveals that school attendance has plummeted due to intensified fighting since January.
More than 375,000 children in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are missing out on education and are at risk of violence and recruitment by armed groups as conflict escalates in the region, Save the Children has warned.
A report from the DRC Education Cluster, which includes Save the Children on Friday, reveals that school attendance has plummeted due to intensified fighting since January.
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At the start of the year, 1.3 million students were expected to resume learning, but ongoing violence has forced the closure of 775 schools. Many of these schools have been turned into shelters for displaced families.
The eastern provinces of North and South Kivu now host over 4.6 million displaced people. Children out of school face threats such as sexual violence and forced recruitment into armed groups.
According to the UN, 895 cases of rape were reported in North Kivu in the last two weeks of February alone, averaging over 60 cases per day.
Children are also at risk from explosive remnants of war scattered across fields and villages.
7 million people displaced
The conflict in DRC has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, displacing nearly 7 million people, including at least 3.5 million children.
Over 26 million people, one in four require humanitarian aid. Since January, renewed violence in South and North Kivu has displaced thousands and left communities in fear. The UN estimates that nearly 80,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.
Julienne, a 15-year-old who was receiving educational support from Save the Children, has been forced to abandon her studies due to the violence.
"I really like learning, and I have dreams of becoming a humanitarian worker - a reality that was in my grasp. Unfortunately, with clashes taking place in our displaced persons camp, we were forced to flee again and abandoned everything to save our lives. I left behind my school supplies that Save the Children had just given me in January,” she said.
“Now I have no other hope of returning to school because we are displaced again to another place, without anything that can allow me to return to school; I don't know what I could do in life without studying." She added.
Situation dire
Save the Children's DRC Country Director Greg Ramm described the situation as dire.
"The situation is catastrophic. Children are being denied their fundamental right to education, and the long-term consequences for their future and the future of the country are dire. The closure of schools not only deprives children of education but also exposes them to increased risks of recruitment by armed groups, child labour and other forms of exploitation,” he said.
“All parties to the conflict should respect the rights of children and ensure their access to education while the international community should provide urgent support to the education sector in DRC,” Ramm added.
Save the Children, which has been operating in eastern DRC since 1994, continues to work with local and international partners and government authorities to provide health, nutrition, water, sanitation, child protection, and education support to affected children and their families.
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