A vital aid to the displaced children
Each child deserves to be protected, to receive care, and to profit from the support and services necessary in order to thrive.
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Armed conflicts and displacements in the Ituri province continue to have devastating consequences on children in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ten years old Honorine was not spared this extreme violence when her village was targeted. For several weeks, Honorine hid in the forest with her family before wandering from camp to camp.
Like Honorine, more than 1,1 million children and women are displaced within the province of Ituri and often live in camps, where the access to basic services is limited. Deprived of fun activities, education, and often forced to work to provide for their families, the children are denied a childhood.
In the Kigonze IDP camp where the family has been settled for a few months, Honorine attends a Child Friendly Space installed by UNICEF. By offering a little break to children, this space enables them to learn and play in a safe and supervised environment. There, Honorine finds other children and has the possibility to overcome her traumatic experiences.
There, the children also learn new useful skills for their environment related to health, protection, nutrition, and hygiene. With its partners, UNICEF sensitizes Kigonze camp families on good food practices. Throughout Ituri province, 2,8 million people suffer from food insecurity and more than 100.000 children younger than five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition.
In the camp, families live in cramped conditions where infectious diseases can be easily propagated. UNICEF and its partners ensure the continuity of the vaccination services so that children receive all the vaccines necessary to their good health.
UNICEF allows the families that are settled in the camp to have access to quality drinking water thanks to a borehole and solar energy pumps. Sanitary facilities were also built to maintain healthiness in the camp and a management committee in charge of hygiene and sanitation was set up. This committee deals with environment cleanliness by regularly organizing cleaning and sensitizing activities near others.
