The following is an open letter issued to the DRC President by HFC. 

123 HFC Road, Kinshaasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

December 19, 2021

Palais de la Nation,
Kinshaasa,
Democratic Republic of the Congo

Your Excellency,

We from Healing from Conflict: the DRC division write to you with an earnest appeal. We urge you to take notice of the reckless violence and havoc being wreaked in schools in the East, and take concrete action. 

In 1990, the DRC was one of many nations which ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, for far too long, the children of the DRC have been deprived. They have been deprived of their rights to well-being, learning, and safety; but also, more implicitly, of their right to hope; the hope of even the mere possibility of a future.

Your Excellency is the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of the biggest and most sweeping actions you undertook as President of this nation was making primary education free in 2019. It was a big moment, and a profound, much-needed statement for the children of this country. It is nothing less than the truth that they shouldn't have to face insurmountable economic hardship in order to attend school. With the recognition of that fact, you positioned yourself as the champion of the right to education; specifically, the right to be able to access it.

However, economic hardship is not the only barrier children face. With hundreds of attacks on schools each year, children are deterred from education and from learning. They are set behind years before they have even embarked fully on the journey of life. The threat of violence, physical and sexual, the threat of trauma, and the threat of exploitation; all of these combined form a mammoth barrier to education, the likes of which would terrify every adult to their core. How can we expect children to step through the gates of schools if we cannot give them the mere guarantee that they will walk out free, living human beings?

You are not just committed to the right to education; you have shown the world that you have a special regard for human rights and dignity. In an interview in 2019 done by the Council of Foreign Relations, you said the following:

“And so what I want to do is during my office time is make this a reason to hope for our youth by offering them, first of all, the chance to freely access education, and in the future to be able to find employment in a way—decent employment, that would allow them to recover their dignity and to prepare themselves to prepare to take over this country in the future.”

The youth are not the only people who will suffer if they do not get educated. This country—full of young, bright individuals with a great deal of potential—will have no diplomas, no skills, and nothing to offer the country. The further this violence continues, the more likely it will be that this country will inherit a crumbling workforce, and a rapidly deteriorating economy.

You are also the chair of the African Union. Earlier this year, the African Union exhibited its commitment to safety in schools via the following:
 

"The AU shall systematically address and mainstream the rights as well as ensure protection and welfare of children…including into the work of relevant components of all AU Peace Support Operations (PSOs) policies, strategies, training and briefing programs. These steps shall be with a view to ensure full compliance with IHL, in particular to ensure that schools are not attacked and used for military purposes."

—African Union Doctrine on Peace Support Operations, 2021

The DRC recognised this much earlier when it endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2016. However, the reasons to endorse such an agreement are still there. Much can and should be done to make progress towards safe schools in the DRC. We urge you to look at two sections of the SSD:

• Use the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use
• Seek to Ensure the Continuation of Education During Armed Conflict

• "Create provisions for the protection of educational facilities from military use in domestic policies and legislation;
• Include protection of education from military use in military doctrine, codes of conduct, rules of engagement;" (Use the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use)
• Develop contingency plans to reduce risks for educational facilities located in conflict-affected areas and to restore access to education or to provide quality alternative education for both male and female students; (Seek to Ensure the Continuation of Education During Armed Conflict)

We urge you to take action before the children of this great nation lose much more than they already have. One year of school for a Congolese child translates into a bright future for the country.

Respectfully Yours,

Mariam Muhammad
Chairperson of Healing from Conflict: DRC