Gender Equality Congo, Democratic Republic of the Project #49925

Congo Girls' Project

by Fund for Congolese Women

Summary

To address the exploding rates of early pregnancies, forced marriages, and sexual violence against girls in Tanganyika province due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we will educate 25 adolescent girl coordinators on laws against sexual violence and on women's rights, develop school education activities targeted to reduce and prevent sexual violence, and through girl-led radio and social media broadcasts, communicate critical information to the entire community, in particular to women and girls.

$110
total raised

3
donors

0
monthly donors

5
years

Challenge

Since the Covid lockdown, we have witnessed an exploding rate of sexual violence against young girls in Tanganyika Province. Girls, traditionally responsible for helping their mothers earn income, are increasingly engaged in prostitution. In four months in the capital Kalemie, 93 girls ages 13-19 have become pregnant, 35 girls have been raped, and 56 girls forced to marry, torpedoing their chances to return to school - cases that we know about. This project educates girls and their communities.

Solution

This project targets girls at risk for sexual violence in conflict-ridden Tanganyika province. It will educate them on their rights, personal safety, and reproductive health, and emphasize returning to school over income-generating activities like sex work. This project reinforces local girls' leadership, advocacy skills, and capacity through locally-responsive, locally-led activities. It will also elevate messages crafted by the girls, reinforcing and encouraging young women's participation.

Long-Term Impact

This project will educate 25 girls to become coordinators and learn leadership skills, equipping them with knowledge on their rights as girls and laws to protect them against violence, how and where to go to report cases of sexual violence, and teach them advocacy skills that they will put to use creating and delivering a locally-relevant media campaign in their local language to educate their communities on reduction and prevention of sexual violence, engaging more youth actively in leadership.