It is essential, in order for the actions to protect the violated rights of children in the DRC to find a future and sustainable development, that they be aimed at strengthening skills (including educational and parenting skills) of both families and institutions. For this reason, the actions of the project will be carried out in collaboration with the branches of the Ministry of Health, with the Relais Communautaires (aggregations of neighbourhood citizens) and with the Minor Reception Centers, thus creating an integrated protection network.
Training program
The project primarily envisages a training program – by qualified professionals – for the staff of the Ministry, of the Relais, the Municipalities, the Minor Reception Centers and the families identified as being among the most concerned in the area, on three fundamental themes:
- health and fight against malnutrition
- inclusion and handicap
- right to education.
These themes will be divided into topics:
- symptoms of malnutrition, diversified diet, local and accessible protein products, hygiene and health regulations, vaccination, prevention of endemic diseases
- inclusion of minors with disabilities and beliefs about “ sorcellerie”
- right of minors to study and emancipate themselves
The beneficiaries will be 60 Ministry and Relais operators, 30 operators of the Minor Reception Centers and municipalities, 768 families. The accuracy of the training will be a condition for all the following further actions to be sustainable and contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of entire communities.
Health, nutrition
A census of the families with malnourished children will be carried out with the Relais Communautaires; to these families, only if they participate in the training, protein food kits will be distributed for an average of four months (following the best scientific standards and the program developed by the partner CCWW, an association of Italian pediatricians). The minors will be periodically examined by a doctor and their development will be monitored.
Those severely malnourished will receive special equipment and, if necessary, will be hospitalized in affiliated centers. The beneficiaries will be 808 families and 850 minors. The program to fight against malnutrition will be completed with the setting up of community gardens and crops. Unvaccinated minors will be oriented to the public service or taken care of directly, as well as those in need of health care and specialist interventions.
Handicap and inclusion
The project will operate in the context of the protection of minors with disabilities. The handicap in the DRC is still considered in many contexts as an index of “witchcraft” and it’s a cause of social exclusion if not abandonment, tortures or killings. The Viviane Foundation will offer free treatment (medical and physiotherapy) and prostheses to 120 children, psychological assistance to families in order to prevent abandonment.
Education
The intervention is limited to the most dramatic situations. The school is not free, and the minors of the poorest Institutes do not have the opportunity to attend it. The project will pay school fees for 160 minors, bearers of the right to emancipation: an adequate placement in the society by strengthening their skills.
The project responds to the sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: goal n. 2 (Zero hunger and improve nutrition), goal n.3 (ensure health and well-being), goal n. 4 (offer learning opportunities), goal n.10 (promote inclusion and eliminate discriminatory practices, 10.2 and 10.3). It respects the principles and indications of the AICS guidelines on childhood and adolescence.