Andre Celeti
Upon winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the European Union allocated the prize money to children affected by conflict and launched its Children of Peace initiative which aims at assisting 28,000 children. 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.
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.
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