The project Children in Mines aims to improve the welfare and future prospects of children working in the cobalt and copper mines by raising community awareness about the protection of the rights of the child. The project aims notably to convince families and the communities at large that children should go to school rather than be working in mines and to provide alternatives for some other children leaving the mines.

The project targets children and young people between the ages of 6 and 22 and reaches out to 25,000 children. This 4-year project is implemented by several different NGOs, with each partner responsible for implementing a series of activities at the sites. The project implemented by Humana People to People Congo covers in total 6 sites: 3 in Haut-Katanga and 3 in Lualaba provinces.

In the mid-period of 2019, the project carried out the following activities: 815 children working in the mines have been reintegrated into schools to continue their education, recruitment of a consultant for income-generating activities, campaigns in all 6 sites on the importance of sending children to school, training of 279 young people in income-generating activities, purchase of materials to distribute in schools in exchange for the children’s school fees, training 271 community workers to use a toll-free alert line on child abuse, enrolling 279 young people in vocational training centres (tailoring, computer studies and mechanics) for periods ranging from 3 to 9 months.