Development Cooperation Minister Charles Michel has decided to support the UNICEF project "Système de protection de l'enfant en urgence dans l'est de la RDC" (Emergency System for Protecting Children in the Eastern DRC) to the tune of €1 million.
The ongoing armed conflict in the DRC is continuing to have drastic consequences for children there. The fragmentation of families and the utter disintegration of basic social structures have driven hundreds of thousands of children into exile. Military operations under way in the eastern DRC are resulting in kidnappings, forced labour, looting, murders and rapes, crimes of which all the parties to the conflict are guilty.
Together with its partners, UNICEF is fighting to prevent such violations of children's rights and come up with an appropriate response to the problem by establishing protective mechanisms at different levels. More specifically, these mechanisms will aim to prevent children from being enrolled into the armed forces, ensure that forms of abuse suffered by children are reported, and guarantee that those children who do end up participating in armed conflicts can be reintegrated into society.
"Since 2005, the rights of the child have been one of four themes underlying all our cooperation. My intention in backing this project is to make sure that the rights of the child do not merely remain an ideal, but become a genuine, fully serviceable development tool. Our very future, no less, depends on it", said Minister Michel.
Source: isria.com/
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