In partnership with Unicef
Addressing child labour in artisanal mines
Protecting Children from Hazardous Mining and Restoring Their Right to Safety and Education in the DRC
Our Project in Democratic Republic of the Congo
According to UNICEF-supported data, one in ten Congolese children aged 5–17 (11%) work in dangerous conditions, with many in artisanal (informal) mines earning just $1–$3 per day. Children are exposed daily to toxic dust, hazardous machinery, risk of mines collapsing, and physical and sexual violence. In response, we have launched a new project in the Haut Katanga province to safely remove and protect 200 children from these hazardous environments. Using a holistic approach, the intervention offers sustainable alternatives by providing children and their families a way out of poverty through education, job training, and household empowerment.
Key Objectives
- Immediate Removal & Protection: Identifying and withdrawing children in the most vulnerable situations, from artisanal mining, providing access to essential social services (health, protection, and psychosocial support) while strengthening child protection systems through trained parasocial workers.
- Access to Quality Education & Vocational Training: Ensuring children’s learning and retention in school through tutoring sessions, while enabling adolescents to learn promising professions via vocational training.
- Household Empowerment & Economic Alternatives: Delivering monthly cash transfers to the most vulnerable households, combined with financial literacy training and cooperative-led income-generating activities to address the root cause of child labour—household poverty—and prevent re-entry into mining.
- Community Advocacy & Systems Strengthening: Raising public awareness on child labour through advocacy, engaging child reporters as youth advocates, and building partnerships with the private sector to ensure long-term accountability and child-friendly business practices.
- Gender-Sensitive & Inclusive Care: Training service providers on norms and standards for childcare, with a transformative approach to addressing the specific needs of girls and boys who are victims of violence or at risk.
Project Goals
Will be withdrawn from artisanal mining and provided with access to education or vocational training.
Will receive monthly cash transfers, financial literacy training, and support to establish income-generating activities.
Will be trained to continue monitoring protection cases and ensuring children do not return to mines.
