World Food Day: charity food aid draws desperate families out of hiding in DR Congo
Today, on the occasion of the Global Disability Summit, the UK Government became the first major donor of its kind to explicitly pledge support for family and community-based care for all children.
Championing families and not orphanages, Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordaunt, announced: “Orphanages are harmful to children and it is often those with disabilities who are placed in them the most. This needs to end, which is why I’m committed to the long-term plan to ensure all children grow up with a family of their own.”
An NGO alliance including Hope and Homes, Lumos, Save the Children and World Vision - have joined forces to echo the UK Government’s commitment and support global change for children trapped in orphanages, especially those with disabilities who are the furthest left behind. The launch ofthe new ‘Civil Society Compact [CSO Compact]’ sets out a pathway for change to help eliminate orphanages worldwide.
“Recognising that institutionalisation harms children – and that children with disabilities are overrepresented in institutions –we commit to work together toward eliminating the institutionalisation of children globally. Ensuring our organisations do not contribute towards the institutionalisation of children, directly or indirectly - and in line with international treaties and best practice, we share the UK Government’s pledge to enable all children to have the opportunity to realise their right to family care.”
World Vision is a proud signatory to the CSO Compact, which is set out in full below.
Now is the time for other governments, funders, companies and individuals to follow suit and invest in alternatives to orphanages so all children can thrive in families.
CSO COMPACT
Recognising that institutionalisation harms children’s physical, emotional, psychological and psychosocial development, the undersigned organisations pledge to work toward the end of institutionalization of children and for the promotion of family-based care.
The occasion of the first Global Disability Summit makes this a particularly appropriate moment for this commitment, since children with disabilities are often the first to enter an institution and the last to leave.
In-line with international treaties and best practice, including the UN Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we share the UK Government’s pledge to enable all children to have the opportunity to realise their right to family care and, in accordance with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development, commit to leave no child behind in this effort.
We are committed to ensuring our organisations do not, either directly or indirectly, contribute towards the institutionalisation of children. We are also committed to coordinating our activities and resources to maximise our collective efforts to support the transition to family and community-based care worldwide. Specifically, we commit to coordinating around six key themes:
Raising awareness and understanding in a way that stops the flow of funding and resources in support of orphanages and other types of institutions, and helping to redirect this support to family and community-based solutions. We will also seek to influence our partners, supporters and donors to work in a coordinated way to do the same.
Encouraging the integration of child protection and care services with health and education support in order to promote family-based care and ensure that the wide-ranging needs of children with disabilities and their carers are met.
Advocating with decision-makers - international and national - to prevent the placement of children into institutions, and to ensure that legislation and policy are always derived from a locally developed evidence base on how to best combat the key drivers of institutionalisation.
Investing in (whether financial or in-kind) local partner capacity – civil society and local authorities – to effectively manage the transition from institutions to quality family and community-based care in ways that protect the rights of affected children.
Promoting the meaningful participation of children and young people - actively seeking out, listening to and acting on the views and opinions of the young people and children we work with, and where safe and appropriate to do so, giving them a platform to share their views and ideas more widely – paying particular attention to ensuring gender balance, and the inclusion of children with disabilities and other minority groups.
Researching and generating an evidence base about key issues such as:
· best practice interventions to address the key drivers of institutionalisation;
· the proliferation and poor quality of care in these institutions;
· ways to challenge the invisibility of children in institutions, especially children with disabilities;
· the most appropriate alternative care options for children who cannot live with their own biological family.
To achieve this we will work together to share our data, research findings, methodologies and support countries to gather better data and monitor outcomes for all children. In doing this we will seek to Increase the visibility and understanding of disability issues in children’s care and protection through wider research and routinely disaggregated data collection.
List of signatories
1. Save the Children UK
2. World Vision
3. Plan International UK
4. Human Rights Watch
5. Islamic Relief Worldwide
6. Disability Rights International
7. Hope and Homes for Children
8. Lumos
9. DeafKidz International
10. Home for Good
11. Better Care Network
12. Friends International
13. Chance for Childhood
14. HealthProm
15. Forget Me Not Australia
16. Next Generation Nepal
17. One Sky Foundation
18. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
Ahead of World Food Day on 16 October, World Vision and the World Food Programme (WFP) has supported 50,000 food insecure people in the Kasais region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The violence in the Kasias erupted in August 2016 as a conflict between a local chieftaincy and Joseph Kabila’s government, tapped into general frustration in a previously peaceful region. 1.6 million people were forced to flee their homes. And 3.2 million people are now food insecure.
Davies Bishi, World Vision Kasais Response Manager, said: “Our teams in Dibaya are seeing devastation and emaciated children. Surveys show that 95 per cent of families are in desperate need of aid.”
“Over the next few months, our goal is to distribute as much food as the World Food Programme can possibly provide, and help cover the gap until families can start growing for themselves again.”
In August 2017, World Vision and WFP, were the first humanitarian agencies to begin food distributions in Kasai Centrale region. To date, they have reached over 55,000 people. They plan to scale up the response to meet the needs of over 100,000 by the end of the year
When the latest fighting began, children and their families were forced to flee for their lives as militia and military ransacked village after village. Many spent months in the bush, forced to survive on foraged fruit and nuts.
13-year-old Anto, told World Vision staff, “It was really difficult when we were hiding in the forest. We weren’t able to eat well.”
When the food distribution started, families began to come back and trust that the situation had become more stable. It was only really then that they came of the bush.
- Modeste Bukasa, Head of Cooperative Réveil (World Vision partners)
An estimated 80-90 per cent of the population in the Kasais have returned home since August, but most are returning to burnt out homes and plundered crops. Survivors returned to find their livestock gone, and after three missed planting seasons, many have resorted to eating seed to survive.
Sarah Pickwick, World Vision UK’s Senior Conflict Advisor, who has worked extensively on the DR Congo said, “The needs in the Kasai province are staggering. Months of fighting and insecurity have left thousands of children at risk of severe acute malnutrition. We need to get urgent and essential aid into the area.
World Food Day helps to shine a light on the over 815 million people who don’t have enough food to eat. The involvement of the Pope, and other global leaders who will attend Monday’s event, sends a positive message to the world’s hungry children.”
World Vision and World Food Programme will provide over £3,759,000 worth of aid to the most vulnerable families in Kasai Centrale with basic food stuffs through December, after which point the response will transition to recovery.
If you would like to help, you can give to the World Vision Emergency work fund, which will help our responses in unfolding crises such as this.