Some 27 million children had to stop studying because of Covid-19 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Unicef). This has worsened an already fragile situation caused by poverty and ongoing conflicts in the east of the country. Limited IT and distance learning accessibility has deprived millions of children of access to education and made them even more vulnerable to exploitation and violence.
An increasing number of children who cannot go to school are sent to work in illegal mines or camps.
In order to respond to this emergency, the Community of Sant'Egidio has relaunched the Schools of Peace: our school support for children is intended to help them not to abandon their studies and regain confidence in the future. In this perspective, the Community of Bukavu has recently organised a school camp for 150 children of the Schools of Peace in the city. The children were able to resume their activities after the long emergency of the pandemic that has kept them away from their school for over a year now.
