Rapid response to the protection of children and women affected by the M23 armed conflicts in Nyiragongo Territory

1. Project title

The title of the project is "Rapid Response to the Protection of Children and Women Affected by the M23 Armed Conflict in Nyiragongo Territory.

2. Areas of intervention of the project

The project will be implemented in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, North Kivu Province, Nyiragongo Territory, in the Nyiragongo health zone.

3. Project target group

The priority group targeted in this project will be children and adolescents and displaced women living in the IDP sites of Kibati, Kanyaruchinya, Mujoga including unaccompanied children (UACs) and very vulnerable displaced women in the IDP sites.

4. Duration of the project

3 months of implementation after signature by project stakeholders

5. Number of beneficiaries

This project provides an emergency response to child and women's protection issues in a way that complements ongoing interventions in the area by

• Holistic and community-based care for unaccompanied children from armed groups;
• The establishment/strengthening of community child protection structures in IDP sites;
• The implementation of a community-based sensitization strategy against the recruitment and use/exploitation of children.

6. Project objectives.

To increase their chances of survival and to ensure that their rights are respected, displaced persons, especially women and children, need to be assisted through an emergency response. In their displacement, they need to be welcomed, cared for holistically (medical, food, clothing, psychological), reunited with their families and supported socio-economically. The most vulnerable women also have the same needs as the ENA/ES. Within this category, those aged 6-17 also need support for socio-economic reintegration and an emergency response through support to their families.

These needs are identified in various assessment reports from different actors in the field conducted from October 20, 2022. We cite here the various information bulletins published by the Protection Cluster, OCHA and other coordination mechanisms in the province of North Kivu) and field survey and direct observation missions.

The objective of this project is to consolidate the framework for prevention and response to situations of violence, abuse and exploitation of children and women in emergency situations of armed conflict between the FARDC and the M23 rebellion in the Nyiragongo area in the Nyiragongo Territory

1. Expected results of the project

• 200 new cases of unaccompanied/separated children (UAS) are transitioning from vulnerability to normal life and their documentation, transitional care, family reunification, and clothing assistance are being provided in the three IDP sites;

• The capacities of local leaders and site managers and other key persons to identify, prevent and respond to child and women protection issues are strengthened in the three IDP sites;

• 450 displaced people from these three sites received emergency clothing assistance;
• 200 children Displaced children aged 0-17 from these three IDP sites received emergency clothing assistance;
• Children aged 0 to 17 living in IDP sites and supervised in Child Friendly Spaces receive emergency assistance;

• Within three months, community-based child protection practices are strengthened, including the prevention, identification, and referral of cases of violence, abuse, and exploitation in the three IDP sites;

• Community and IDP site mobilization for the protection of children and other vulnerable groups is ensured through the organization of 40 door-to-door sensitization and information sessions, 18 focus groups with IDPs and 15 radio programs on child and women protection and conflict prevention and new cases of protection in the IDP sites of Kibati, Mujoga and Kanyarushinya ;

• Vulnerable children and women in humanitarian contexts, in particular EAFGA, ENA/ES, women and children survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, are identified and benefit from a child and woman protection intervention package in emergencies;

• 126 sessions of recreational activities for 200 children in the project target area are organized;
• 5 psychologists and 15 psycho-social assistants are trained in the specific techniques of the community approach in the psycho-social accompaniment of survivors of sexual violence in the indicated IDP sites (Kibati, Mujoga, Kanyarushinya, ...)

• Occupational activities for children and adolescent survivors of violence and other vulnerable displaced children are organized in the three intervention sites;

• Individual counseling for 50 adolescent children is organized;
• 150 members/families affected by the crisis are supported in the means of subsistence through vocational training (socio-professional reintegration);
• Children participating in the Child Friendly Spaces and pregnant and lactating women are taken care of through the distribution of porridges in the three sites.

1. Description of the activities to be carried out
2. Implementation of ITDR systems (identification, family tracing, reunification, etc.) for ENA/S in areas affected by the crisis related to the clashes between FARDC and the M23 rebel group:

• Identify/document ANEs (possibly through listening points set up in IDP sites);
• Organize the reception and holistic care of ENA/S through the transitional centers of other partners and ensure the documentation and individual follow-up of each child;
• Conducting Family Research/Mediations for ENA/S;
• Arrange family reunifications for cases with positive tracings;
• Organize individual follow-up of reunified children in their families/communities.

2. Build the capacity of at least 3 AIS, 3 children's clubs, as well as local leaders, and 3 IDP committees.

• Train the AIS committees, IDP committees/Children's Clubs on the Rights and Protection of the Child in Situations of Armed Conflict; Provide material support and construction of child friendly spaces (CFS);
• Collect/document information/allegations of human rights violations;
• Identify/document cases of other vulnerable or at-risk children (SGBV, children outside the school system...); Refer these cases to the appropriate care structures available (listening center, health, justice, NGOs...)
• Ensure the distribution of clothing kits to children (disaggregated by sex and age) and vulnerable displaced women in the sites of Mujoga, Kibati and Kanyarushinya;
• Organize 40 door-to-door sensitization and information sessions, 18 focus groups with IDPs and 15 radio programs on child and women protection and on conflict prevention and new protection cases in the IDP sites of Kibati, Mujoga and Kanyarushinya;

3. Organize 2 days of evaluation of the activities to measure the progress made and self care of the field actors;
4. Vulnerable children and women in humanitarian contexts, in particular EAFGA, ENA/ES, women and children survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, are identified and benefit from a child and woman protection intervention package in emergencies.