Capital: Kinshasa
Area: 2,345,410 km²
Population: 60.1 million (July 2005)
Ethnic groups: Bantu, Sudanic, Nilotic, pygmies, Hamitic
Official language(s): French
Religion(s): Christian, Muslim, Jewish, animist beliefs, Kimbanguism
Currency: 1 Congolese franc = 100 centimes

SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country

Following a revolt, which left the country socially and politically weakened, SOS-Kinderdorf International started its work in Zaire, today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1987. The same year a co-operation agreement was signed between the government of the Congo and SOS-Kinderdorf International. In 1989, the first children were able to move into their SOS Children's Village in Bukavu, in the east of the country, on the shores of Lake Kivu.

The SOS Kindergarten and SOS Hermann Gmeiner School attached to the SOS Children's Village are important educational features and are open to children from the neighbourhood as well as to SOS Children's Village children. The first SOS Youth Facility went into operation in Bukavu in 1994. Here, the youths who have outgrown the SOS Children's Village are cared for and assisted on their path to independence. The same year, two months after the outbreak of the devastating civil war in neighbouring Rwanda, the children from SOS Children's Village Gikongoro there had to leave their homes temporarily. They found shelter in SOS Children's Village Bukavu.

In 1996, bitter fighting broke out in the Congo once more. During this time, SOS Children's Village Bukavu was briefly occupied by the armed forces. Shortly thereafter, a temporary emergency clinic was set up for the local population. Because of continuing need, it has now become a permanent fixture.

Because of the unrest in the South Kivu region, SOS Children's Villages set up in 1997 an Emergency SOS Children's Village in Uvira, 130 km south from Bukavu, on the north boarder of the Tanganyika Sea with a kindergarten and a school for 250 children. These are children who lost their parents in the civil war.

After only a small part of these children from the Emergency SOS Children’s Village could be reunited with their families and the demands for admission of children continued to increase tremendously, it was decided to build a permanent facility. At the end of August 2006 the children could enter their new home in Uvira.

 

In 2004, SOS Children’s Villages started to operate Family Strengthening Programmes, which enable children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers. 

Due to the war and the poor economic situation of the country, the availability for jobs has worsened. The education system has also deteriorated due to a lack of upkeep. It is very difficult for the SOS youths to find a suitable job and become independent. For those who do not have the ability to do this it is very difficult to provide for their own livelihood. For this reason an SOS Vocational Training Centre was built, in order to serve the SOS youths from Bukavu, Uvira and possibly Rwanda and Burundi as well as the youths from the surrounding community. The addition of a “Centre for Youth Entrepreneurship Development“ in a second construction phase aims to provide a conducive environment for starting micro entities in the different trades taught in the centre and thus promoting self-employment.

One of the most serious consequences of the wars in Congo has been the migration into the cities: Kinshasa concentrates all the problems of a developing world metropolis: hunger, disease, unemployment, poverty. As a consequence, a great number of children have been abandoned and live on the street. So the SOS Children’s Village in Kinshasa will be a new home for 150 children.

At present there are three SOS Children’s Villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two SOS Youth Facilities, three SOS Kindergartens, three SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, an SOS Vocational Training Centre, three SOS Medical Centres and three SOS Social Centres.

Contact:

Villages d'Enfants SOS de Rép. Dém. du Congo

BP 1988
Bukavu
Avenue LUNDULA N°17/ Muhumba
Democratic Republic of Congo
tel. +243 (0) 999 792 787, +243 (0) 813 186 244
fax +37 79 310 72 79