Posts Tagged ‘Violence and Oppression Blog’
4 Things to Know About Recent Conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo
A new surge of conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo is exacerbating one of the most neglected displacement crises in the world.
Recently, our team visited one of the large camps for internally displaced people (IDP) located on the outskirts of Goma. We spoke with pastors and members of World Relief’s Church Empowerment Zones who had been displaced.
We talked with women and youth, as well as church leaders and municipal authorities who are handling displacement issues. Everywhere we went, people expressed deep sorrow for the families who have lost loved ones due to the cholera epidemic in the camps, for the sisters and wives who have been raped amidst the conflict, for the thousands of children who cannot go to school and are stuck on the main roads with their families.
In all my years of working in the humanitarian and disaster response sector, I have witnessed terrible misery and despair. But what is currently happening in DR Congo is truly mind-boggling. For all those in these camps who have been displaced many times before, they are remembering past conflicts and displacements with great vividness.
While the crisis is heartbreaking, the long slow work of change continues taking shape. At World Relief we’re committed to assisting the local pastors, activists and community members who are fighting for change within their own communities.
Today, we’re sharing four things you need to know about the most recent conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo and why it matters to World Relief. Let’s dive in.
1. The current conflict is centered in the North Kivu province, near Goma City.
In August 2022, clashes resumed between DR Congo’s military and rebel group M23. For the last decade, the rebel group had largely been held at bay. But the resurgence of violence triggered a new wave of displacement, violence and hunger in the country’s North Kivu province.
The cause of this conflict and the ongoing driving factors are incredibly complex and hotly debated. Since fighting began, the M23 has been active in a large portion of the North Kivu province, surrounding the capital of Goma. In February, the group advanced toward the city causing widespread panic in the region. While they did not reach the city and a ceasefire was put in place, many continue to live in fear and uncertainty.
2. More than 5.5 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict.
Most of these families and individuals are now living in both formal and informal settlements for internally displaced people (IDPs).
Basic services including access to food and water, are scarce in camps. A recent report by the International Red Cross indicates that 93% of IDPs recently settled in camps in and around Goma are in dire need of essential household items like blankets, cookware and fabric.
Over the last year, education has been disrupted for more than 600,000 children in North Kivu.
Prior to this conflict, many of these individuals and families were living successful self-sustaining lives as farmers, traders, transporters, etc. But in the rush to escape the violence, they left everything behind and it’s unclear when it will be safe to return to their homes.
3. People in DR Congo desperately want peace.
While DR Congo is home to more than 100 armed groups operating in the eastern region, citizens are actively finding ways to come together and creatively pursue peace.
Artists in Goma are painting murals to amplify their call for peace and urge people to reject violence. Women across eastern DR Congo are mobilizing their communities, strengthening connections between local authorities and the communities in which they work, documenting human rights abuses and holding perpetrators accountable.
Though the loudest and most consistent narrative coming out of DR Congo is one of war and pain, the strength, resolve and collective push for development and healing must not be overlooked. In fact, much of World Relief’s work in the region is spearheaded by local pastors and community members who are working together to unite churches and build peace.
4. World Relief has been partnering with communities in DR Congo for more than two decades and staff are responding now.
Since 2001, World Relief has been working to address the root causes of conflict in Democratic Republic of the Congo and facilitate stability and healing in the country. Village Peace Committees were piloted in the early 2000s as part of an ongoing initiative to disrupt cycles of revenge that have the potential to escalate to violence by focusing on reconciliation and forgiveness.
Today, we’re responding in the hardest hit regions near Goma providing food and non-food items as well as hygiene and sanitation aid.
In partnership with local church groups, IDP committees and other NGOs, World Relief is identifying those facing the most acute hunger needs, prioritizing female-led households, people with disabilities and the elderly. Monthly food distributions, consisting of beans, maize, oil and salt, will provide for 100% of household emergency nutritional needs based on internationally-recognized standards.
Learn More
DR Congo faces one of the most complex and neglected humanitarian crises of our day. While this may not be making headline news, it’s affecting millions of people. Their stories matter and we believe it’s important to stay informed beyond the headlines.
Linked below are several stories from DR Congo and from Congolese refugees who are now living in the United States, as well as a few recommended resources for learning more about the history of DR Congo.
Stories from DR Congo:
- Change United to Bring Peace and Restoration
- World Relief DR Congo is Building Resilience from Ashes
- Global Peace Starts With Us
- Frontline Report: Democratic Republic of Congo
Congolese Refugee Stories
- Worth the Wait: A Story of Faith, Hope and Perseverance Despite the Odds
- From DRC to the 253: A Blacklisted Journalist Hasn’t Given Up Working or a Better Congo
- Rebuilding Welcome in Memphis
Learn More About DR Congo
Charles Franzén has been working in humanitarian and disaster response sector for more than 25 years. Prior to assuming the role of Humanitarian and Disaster Response Director at World Relief, he served as the Country Director in Democratic Republic of Congo for five years.
The Compounding Effects of COVID-19 on Women and Girls
“The impacts of crises are never gender-neutral, and COVID-19 is no exception.”
– UN Women
A Pre-Pandemic Issue
While the pandemic has touched nearly every corner of the globe, the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on women and children cannot be overstated.
Before the pandemic, women already earned less, had access to fewer social protections and made up most single-parent households. The direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 have only exacerbated all of these issues — livelihood, access to good healthcare and education and community support in parenting.
Women have disproportionately suffered the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 as a result of job losses, reduced hours, increased pressures of care and domestic work, and strains on both physical and mental health.
Twenty-nine percent of mothers living with children lost their jobs compared to 20 percent of men living with children. In the area of physical and mental health, women are more likely to report strained health with 71 percent of women aged 18–24 compared to 59 percent of young men.
Likewise, the majority of primary caregivers both in the home and within our communities are women, which has put them at greater risk of COVID infection and/or disruption of livelihood.
Violence Against Women Has Increased
Prior to the pandemic, steadier streams of income and freedom to leave home may have decreased domestic violence, but the results of economic tension and poor mental health during this pandemic have led to devastating consequences for women and children who live in constant close contact with violent partners and caregivers.
Gender-based violence, sometimes referred to as violence against women or intimate-partner violence, has been a global issue for centuries. Even before the pandemic, the UN reported that 35% of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence — that’s 1 in 3 women! These are women here in the U.S. and women in the countries where we work overseas.
Early on in the pandemic, it became clear that sexual and gender-based violence was increasing due to COVID-19 — a shadow pandemic was emerging.
Emerging data and reports from those on the front lines have shown that all types of violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence, have intensified since the pandemic began. Domestic violence helplines and shelters began reporting a spike in calls for help just months into the pandemic. This spike has continued to rise.
What’s more, child marriages are increasing after years of decline, with a projected 10 million additional girls at risk due to COVID-19 over the next decade. The reasons for this are many, including the fact that families need the extra money; having one less child in the house is one less person to feed. UNESCO has even reported that 11 million girls may never go back to school as a result of disrupted education caused by COVID-19.
Is There Hope?
While the facts are devastating, there is hope and a way forward.
Throughout the pandemic, we, at World Relief, have watched with great wonder and encouragement at how adaptable our programs have been to withstand the constraints of COVID-19. Our ability to address sexual and gender-based violence and issues of child protection have been no exception.
For example, our community-based couples-strengthening program called Families for Life enabled us to check in on households that were vulnerable to increased gender-based violence.
Families for Life (FFL) is a unique program that World Relief developed and began implementing in 2011. FFL Groups are led by local couples who have been trained by World Relief and have a vested interest in seeing their neighbors experience healthy and thriving relationships.
During the pandemic, we were able to connect with these group leaders periodically via phone calls to encourage and equip them in how to safely continue investing in the couples they were already reaching out to pre-pandemic. They were even able to host socially distanced, in-person trainings on COVID-19 prevention in addition to helping couples navigate conflict in the home.
On the economic side, our savings groups were also able to find innovative ways to continue meeting — whether outside or socially distanced or in smaller groups. These groups, which are made up mostly of women, became a real source of stability amidst a time of incredible instability.
Likewise, economics and root issues of poverty are often the primary drivers for early marriage. Strengthening families through economic projects like savings groups is one way we’re working to prevent child marriage.
Additionally, we’ve been diligently working to build holistic child protection systems that create protective environments for early adolescents and teens, even before the pandemic. This included early adolescent and adolescent clubs, which equip and empower children and adults that are in a child’s circle of influence to understand how to prevent early marriage.
By establishing this kind of protective environment, we can prevent abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence, even amidst such trying circumstances as a COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Looking Forward
COVID-19 has taken a magnifying glass and illuminated issues that were already in existence and will remain in existence once the pandemic has ended. The pandemic has also shown how women carry much of the burden.
At World Relief, knowing that issues of gender inequality and injustice will continue even once some normalcy arrives post-COVID, we remain steady in our commitment to integrate gender equality into all levels of our programming.
Women’s agency, dignity, opportunity and empowerment come not just from technical programs, but from a deep, internal community understanding and drive for each and every one of their community members — men and women, boys and girls — to reach their full, God-given potential.
A pandemic has not altered this truth nor has it altered our resolve to build a more gender-equal world.
Much of this article has been adapted from a recent report by World Relief on the impacts of COVID-19 on global poverty. Read the full report and give today to support women and girls in the wake of COVID-19.
Veronica Kaitano serves as the Gender Equality Social Inclusion Technical Advisor with the World Relief’s Programs Resources Team. Through her work, Veronica supports World Relief’s country offices in ensuring the integration of a gender and social inclusion approach within programming and acts as the global technical lead for supporting implementation and continued growth of World Relief’s couple strengthening model Families for Life, with a specific emphasis on disability inclusion.
Krystel Mumba is Program Advisor for Child Development & Protection with International Programs at World Relief. Over the last 16 years she has worked in child-focused programming around holistic prevention, intervention and rehabilitation for vulnerable children, but is especially passionate about innovative programming that centers young people as active agents of change — that empowers children and youth to thrive in their families, communities and spheres of influence. Krystel holds a Master’s degree in Cross-Cultural Studies, International Development and Children-at-Risk from Fuller Theological Seminary. Although she has called many places around the world home, she is currently rooted in Seattle, WA with her husband Chitalu.
Women’s Empowerment Programming is Everywhere
When people ask us, “Where is World Relief’s women’s empowerment programming?” Our answer is: It’s everywhere.
Transforming how men and women live, relate and honor God in their relationships is at the very heart of what we do. We recognize that women and girls don’t exist in isolation. They live, they work and they go to school in community. And only with community transformation will gender reconciliation, empowerment and transformation truly occur.
While we have several programs that center around women — trauma-care groups for sexual and gender-based violence victims in DR Congo, maternal health programs for mothers and teen clubs for pre-adolescent girls — we incorporate the idea of gender equality into nearly all of our international development programming, starting at the belief level.
Today, I want to share two stories with you about a woman named Salina — one fictionalized, and one the truth. Salina’s story illustrates the power of World Relief’s gender-integrated approach and is proof that together, we can #breakthebias and create communities where women and girls can thrive.
Salina’s Story: What Often Happens
Salina is a young wife and mother living in Malawi. She decides to join a savings group and has great hope that this program will change her life. At first, she is encouraged by the community of women and the potential opportunity. But it’s not long before her husband, Chilaw, becomes resentful of the profitable women’s program.
When Salina takes home her savings, Chilaw takes her hard-earned money for himself and spends it frivolously. As a result, Salina is unable to invest in what she’d hoped — nutritious food for her children, health insurance and school fees. Her girl child, Charity, in particular, remains malnourished and uneducated.
Though Chilaw brings home produce from a local agricultural group, both parents prioritize food for their son over Charity. They sell the remaining produce at the market and send their son to school with their earnings, but Charity remains at home doing household chores. She has little awareness of her worth as a young woman and awaited the day when she’ll be married for a bride price and step into the same life her mother has had. Salina’s home is trapped in a vicious cycle of economic, social and relational poverty.
Now, let’s rewrite this story, and see what happens when World Relief’s gender-integrated approach is applied.
Salina’s True Story
In Salina’s real story, she hears about a savings group. She wants to join, but she’s afraid of what her husband might think. After all, he is the decision maker of the family. Nevertheless, World Relief hears of Salina’s interest and encourages her to join.
Simultaneously, a local church volunteer meets with Salina and her husband, Chilaw. They explore a transformative curriculum that teaches Chilaw about his wife’s inherent value and worth. He learns that she is also created in the image of God, deserving of love and respect and possessing a God-given potential that must be nurtured, honored and developed.
He encourages her to go to the local savings groups and when she saves money, they sit and talk together about how to use it along with the money Chilaw earns from selling his agricultural produce.
Salina and Chilaw also learn about the value of their daughter, Charity, and decide it’s time to send her to school with the money they’ve saved. Now that Charity is in school, World Relief encourages her to attend the local adolescent girls club. Chilaw thinks it’s important for his daughter’s wellbeing and development, so he also encourages her to go. Charity learns about the power of her education and the perils of early marriage and sets goals to go to university.
Can you spot the difference?
In both stories, savings, agriculture, nutrition and adolescent clubs are in place, yet only in the second of these stories do these programs have a restorative, transformational and generational impact on the lives of Salina and her family.
The real transformation comes mostly prior to the programmatic benefits — within the home, at the belief and value level. This is the power of our restorative gender work.
We know savings, agricultural and countless other technical programs work most effectively when they build upon the foundational work that has been done within the home, between husband and wife, parents and children.
That’s why, at World Relief we approach female empowerment at the belief level, starting with the family structure. We see the empowerment of women and girls happen not because our programming is exclusively focused on women and girls, but because we work to ensure the whole community recognizes and respects the voices, roles and unique gifts of these women and girls.
Our transformative curriculums — focused on God’s truth that each man, woman and child are made in the image of God — drive this innovative approach to relief and development. We believe that unless relationships have been transformed so that both man and woman, boy and girl, are equally valued, given equal opportunity and are equally empowered, the impact of our programming is compromised.
Without this core transformation, Salina, her daughter and the generations of women who will come after them stay trapped in a cycle of marginalization and poverty. With it, however, change is truly possible. A better future exists for Charity, her daughters and her granddaughters. Their story has been rewritten.
Women’s agency, dignity, opportunity and empowerment come not just from technical programs, but from a deep, internal community understanding and drive for each and every one of their community members—men and women, boys and girls—to reach their full, God-given potential.
So, where is our women’s empowerment programming?
It’s everywhere.
Francesca Albano currently serves as Director of Branded Content at World Relief. With a background in Cultural Anthropology and a graduate degree in Strategic Marketing Communications, she connects her interests in societal studies and global cultures with her training in brand strategy and storytelling. Francesca is especially passionate about grassroots community development and the treatment and advancement of women and girls around the world.
7 Ways We’re Breaking the Bias
At World Relief, we imagine a gender-equal world — a world where women are no longer disproportionately affected by global pandemics, and child marriage is no longer an answer to economic hardship; a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination; a world where girls have equal access to education and women’s leadership, experience and expertise are valued across all sectors of society.
That’s why today, on International Women’s Day, we commit to #BreakTheBias.
We affirm our belief in full equality and inclusion of women at all levels and are working to achieve our vision of a gender-equal world — in homes, schools, organizational and community leadership. Here are just seven of the ways we are #breakingthebias at World Relief!
1. In our International Programs, we’re addressing gender inequality at the root
When a community believes men are superior to women, women are not empowered to make decisions at the household or community level, putting them at a social and economic disadvantage. Women’s agency, dignity, opportunity and empowerment come not just from technical programs, but from a deep, communal understanding that men and women, boys and girls are created equal in the image of God.
At World Relief, this truth is the bedrock of all our international programs. That’s why, the first stage of so many of our programs starts with addressing harmful beliefs about women and laying a biblical foundation for women’s equality.
As the truth of biblical equality takes root in more people’s hearts and minds, more women are empowered to rise up within their communities and lead within our programs. And when women are able to take on leadership in areas like health and nutrition, savings, agriculture and church empowerment, holistic transformation begins.
2. Increasing access to education and employment for refugee women in Memphis
Through the Connect English Language Center, World Relief Memphis’ Gateway program is designed for refugee women who have suffered an interrupted or incomplete education due to violence or lack of opportunities. Many of these women may face barriers such as trauma or pre-literacy. Gateway welcomes these women to a warm and informal classroom setting where they develop confidence in the basics of the English language. Gateway helps women learn how to introduce themselves and share information confidently as they take steps towards integrating into their new American community.
3. Facilitating gender equality training among International Programs staff
At World Relief, we believe God’s word can’t be powerful through us until it is powerful within us. That’s why, in 2020, we rolled out a gender equality training called Women and Men Leading Together amongst our international staff. The curriculum lays a biblical foundation for gender equality, addresses patriarchal cultures and invites staff to reflect on how they want to act as change agents in their families, communities and churches.
As of 2021, a large percentage country staff have walked through gender Bible studies to learn more about God’s view of equality. Moving forward, each country office will reflect annually on their progress towards gender equality through a gender scorecard which assesses offices on achievement towards five priority areas: theological foundation; gender-sensitive program design; staffing and leadership; dedicated gender-mainstreaming strategic resources; and policies and procedures.
Two country offices have also undergone a gender equality and inclusion self-assessment (GEISA) aimed to support organizational transformation on gender equality and inclusion. And in 2021, World Relief rolled-out gender trainings to equip country office staff with necessary skills to mainstream gender in programming.
4. Building confidence in girls through mentorship
With the crucial support of local churches and community members, World Relief has formed girls clubs in communities around the world. These weekly gatherings for girls between ages 10-18 seek to enhance girls’ self-esteem, encourage education and empower personal decision-making.
During the clubs’ weekly meetings, girls explore their rights and learn new skills through stories, games, role-plays and songs. With guidance from mentors — women from within the community — clubs foster an atmosphere where girls can excel as they feel more empowered, more knowledgeable and more confident.
5. Fostering community for refugee women in Sacramento
World Relief Sacramento’s Refugee Integration Groups come alongside isolated, often pre-literate Afghan women to help them build the skills they need to achieve independence. Each week, women gather to practice their English and learn about topics such as navigating the healthcare system, coping with culture shock and how to use a car seat. World Relief Sacramento also partners with local professionals to present on topic relevant to women’s needs such as parenting, domestic violence and health. All presentations are translated into the women’s native languages and provide a springboard for group discussion.
6. Equipping youth to address gender-based violence in Malawi
Through SCOPE-HIV, World Relief is implementing IMPower — a curriculum that addresses the unique challenges boys and girls face in combating gender-based violence. Girls learn about boundary setting, diffusion tactics, verbal assertiveness, negotiation and physical self-defense skills.
Boys learn to treat women and girls respectfully, countering harmful masculine norms and helping to prevent sexual and gender-based violence. The curriculum stresses that boys possess the ability and desire to treat women respectfully, but often condone and commit acts of sexual violence in response to social and community pressures. Rather than seeking to instill a new sense of morality, the program reminds boys of existing morals and values and empowers them to build the confidence and skills to act on these morals every day.
This two-pronged approach ensures girls have the tools they need to defend themselves, while sowing the seeds of lasting change by addressing harmful societal norms at the root.
7. Elevating Women through Leadership Opportunities
Across much of our programming in Sub-Saharan Africa, where culture strongly dictates that leadership roles be reserved for men, we are working to ensure female leaders are raised up in their communities.
By electing women into Savings and Agricultural Group Presidential and Vice Presidential positions, and teaching joint decision-making around household finances, we are reshaping the ways women are viewed in their communities. What’s more, we are mirroring this practice in international leadership, where three new female Country Directors have been hired in the last 18 months.
Every day, we have the privilege of watching the radical concept of Imago Dei transform broken relationships and end violence and oppression in so many of the communities where we work. A generation of young girls is seeing a new way of existing, encountering role models and gaining a vision for what their lives could mean.
Gender equality is a matter of both justice and stewardship, and we will continue striving toward a gender-equal world in everything we do. While we recognize that we still have progress to make, we commit to this journey and commit to #breakthebias, not just on IWD but every day.
Moving Together to End Gender-Based Violence
16 Days of Activism
As many in the U.S. paused to celebrate Thanksgiving, November 25th also marked the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. For 30 years, the international community has come together to amplify voices and speak out against gender-based violence, which affects millions of people worldwide.
While gender-based violence affects men, women, boys and girls worldwide, women and girls like Angela are affected disproportionately.
Angela’s Story
Angela is a 12-year-old girl living in Malawi, a country where sexual and gender-based violence impacts an estimated 15-25% of girls and boys under 15 years old.
One day, as Angela was leaving school, an older man whom she didn’t know approached her saying that he had something to tell her. When she stopped, he made it clear that he wanted her to be his girlfriend.
Thankfully, Angela had been attending empowerment and self-defense classes, called IMPower, through World Relief’s SCOPE HIV project.
IMPower is a curriculum customized for the unique challenges that boys and girls face. Girls learn about boundary setting and diffusion tactics, verbal assertiveness, negotiation and physical self-defense skills, while the boy’s curriculum focuses on treating women and girls respectfully, and the prevention of sexual gender-based violence amidst social pressures related to masculine norms.
Using the skills she learned in IMPower, Angela loudly asserted that she was not interested in a relationship. To her surprise, the tactic worked, getting the attention of those around her and giving her the courage to walk away.
The next day, she saw the man again. This time, he didn’t even acknowledge her, despite her being alone.
“I can now sense danger, respond quickly to danger, by lying, shaming, negotiating even warning for consequences in order for me to get away,” Angela said. “And if the situation seems very dangerous, there is always readily available support from people and friends around.
Gender-based Violence and HIV Transmission
While the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence runs from Nov. 15-Dec. 10, World Aids Day falls right in the middle on December 1.
Gender-based violence is both a cause and a consequence of HIV. Of people living with HIV in Malawi, 20% reported experiencing physical violence, and 41% reported sexual violence over 12 months, including intimate partner violence.
HIV infections in Malawi are declining, but positive gender norms and gender-based violence prevention are critical to sustaining this momentum and reaching every person who needs it with HIV care and treatment.
In partnership with USAID and PEPFAR, World Relief’s SCOPE HIV project is focused on addressing both issues together by implementing prevention approaches, community mobilization, advocacy, holistic support for survivors and training programs like IMPower.
In just seven months of implementing SCOPE activities, World Relief Malawi has helped 582 survivors gain access to services. These community volunteers and faith congregations have also intervened to stop child marriages and keep young girls in school.
You Can Help
Combating gender-based violence, and creating change that lasts isn’t easy, but it’s possible when we move together. That’s why we invite you to move with us by participating in these 16 Days of Activism. You can:
1. Make a personal commitment to “Stop Violence Now.”
All of us can repent of times when we’ve used power over others to cause harm — whether large or small. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to give power to or have power with people in our homes, churches and communities.
2. Reach out to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
If you know someone who has survived sexual and gender-based violence, reach out and offer a helping hand. Let the spirit of whatsoever you do to the least of my brother, that you do unto me flourish (Matthew 25:40).
3. Pray for victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
Prayer is one of our most powerful tools. Pray for healing for those affected by sexual and gender violence, pray for those like Angela who are vulnerable, and pray for men and women to speak out.
Learn more about SCOPE HIV and how we’re working to help address gender in Malawi’s HIV epidemic. For more details about how you can engage in the 16 Days Campaign visit https://16dayscampaign.org.
Veronica Kaitano serves as the Gender Equality Social Inclusion Technical Advisor with the World Relief’s Programs Resources Team. Through her work, Veronica supports World Relief’s country offices in ensuring the integration of a gender and social inclusion approach within programming and acts as the global technical lead for supporting implementation and continued growth of World Relief’s couple strengthening model Families for Life, with a specific emphasis on disability inclusion.
Laura DePauw serves as the Knowledge Management Advisor for World Relief’s Strengthening Community Health Outcomes Through Positive Engagement (SCOPE) project providing knowledge management, communications, and information management across the project’s four countries.
The Price of our Daughters
Earlier this week, news broke of Parwana Malik, a 9-year-old girl sold for $2,200 to a 55-year old man in an Afghan displacement camp. The heartbreaking story is one of many coming out of Afghanistan this week, as families struggle to survive since the Taliban took control of the nation.
Many of us were shocked and despaired by this news. Here, we answer a few questions about child marriage and what can be done to curtail the devastating practice.
Is what we’re seeing in the news in Afghanistan a common occurrence around the world? How prevalent is child marriage globally?
Unfortunately, child marriage around the world is far more common than any of us would like to believe. Worldwide, an estimated 650 million girls and women alive today were married in childhood. Each year, over 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 – that’s 23 young girls every minute.
Globally, we have made significant progress over the last decade in reducing the occurrence of child marriage, but the effects of COVID-19 have dramatically shifted that trajectory. A recent report by UNICEF revealed that 10 million additional girls are now at risk due to the pandemic – a result of school closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy and parental deaths.
Isolated and with limited freedom, these child brides are deprived of their fundamental rights to health, education and safety. They are neither physically nor emotionally ready to become wives and mothers and face increased risks of experiencing dangerous complications in pregnancy and childbirth, contracting HIV/AIDS and suffering domestic violence and abuse. With limited access to education and economic opportunities, they and their families are also more likely to live in poverty.
What are the factors that contribute to child marriage around the world?
There are many complex elements that contribute to underage marriage globally – including harmful gender norms, social and cultural practices, poverty and insecurity.
At the root of child marriage is gender inequality and injustice. All over the world today, girls are valued less because of their sex and denied their rights. They are controlled by patriarchal systems that often limit their freedom, education and decision-making.
These systems create social and cultural norms that further restrict girls and women from having control over their own lives and futures. And for too many girls, these norms dictate early marriage before the age of 18.
Nearly 40% of girls in the world’s poorest countries are married before the age of 18. Families in poverty see the marriage of their daughters as a way to both ease the burden of living costs and secure economic stability from the dowry or “bride price.”
Early marriage of girls becomes even more frequent during times of conflict or crisis, as families slip further into poverty. The marriage of a daughter can often be used to repay debts, settle conflict, or create alliances. Some parents, can even see early marriage as a way to protect their daughters from sexual violence during conflict where the rule of law has broken down.
How can we work with communities and families to prevent child marriage?
Thankfully, prevention methods can help significantly in reducing the occurrence child marriage.
One such method is building holistic child protection systems that create protective environments for early adolescents and teens. At World Relief, this looks like early adolescent and adolescent clubs which equip and empower not only children themselves to understand how to prevent early marriage but also those that are in the circle of care and influence, including parents and caregivers, faith leaders, teachers, mentors and other community members. By establishing this kind of protective environment, we can prevent abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence before it occurs.
Since economics and root issues of poverty are the primary drivers for early marriage (as we’ve seen exacerbated in the developing world during the pandemic), another prevention method lies in strengthening families through economic projects that build household resilience and sustainability. At World Relief, these projects include savings and agricultural groups that help families achieve economic security.
Can you tell me more about World Relief’s child protection work, specifically?
At World Relief, our child development and protection work includes early adolescent and adolescent clubs; Channels of Hope for Child Protection; and community-based Child Protection Committees.
We empower churches and communities to create clubs for adolescents to help them develop critical life skills such as respecting one another and discovering personal strengths, as well as sexual reproductive health, child rights and issues of child protection. As adolescents approach adulthood, our programming incorporates lessons in mentoring, job skills training, youth savings groups, life skills and HIV/AIDs prevention and support
Educating children alone about how to protect themselves isn’t enough. That’s why we also train churches in child protection, mobilizing faith leaders and community members to build protective environments for children through our Channels of Hope for Child Protection program. Through these workshops, individuals and the wider faith community are empowered to respond to local issues and build sustainable solutions that help prevent and protect children from abuse and violence and help them thrive in their communities.
We then link children, adolescents and adults together through community-based child protection committees. These child protection committees, established by World Relief, help promote and facilitate partnerships among churches, communities and government systems and providesa way for communities to own the responsibility for child protection as a community and includes the participation of children and youth.
How can I help?
We believe that change is possible for the millions of girls around the world who suffer through forced marriages. But it takes all of us, moving together, to create change that lasts.
When you give to World Relief, you can improve the lives of young girls around the world – protecting them from forced marriages that deprive them of opportunity and leave them vulnerable to physical, emotional, and spiritual trauma.
Here’s just some of what your money can do:
$50 will teach one couple how to better care for and nurture young girls – changing the narrative about the worth of daughters within families.
$250 will form an adolescent girls clubs – providing 15 girls with the opportunity to learn the skills and receive the support they need to transition well into adulthood.
$1,000 will sponsor an intensive conference for church leaders regarding child protection issues so they can be equipped to advocate for and create a protective environment for young girls in their community.
Will you join us as we bring protection, hope and opportunity to these girls?
Change Unites to Bring Peace and Restoration
Today, on International Day of Peace, harmony seems hard to find. Friends, families, communities and nations are divided. If you’re like us, your heart aches at the divisions driving disunity, conflict and even war around the world. But we believe God’s heart is for reconciliation — and wherever God is, there is hope.
World Relief DR Congo’s Berger Bireo shares how he came to understand that a unified church has the power to create lasting change in communities around the globe — his own included. This lesson in unity not only shaped Berger’s own view of the church, but has motivated him to build peace and call the global church to unite in our common identity as children of God, being agents of peace wherever we go.
*This blog was originally published on Nov. 23, 2020 and was updated on Sept. 21, 2021.
“Blessed are those who bring peace, for they will be called children of God. ” – Matthew 5: 9
Cycles of Conflict
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), referred to affectionately as the Heart of Africa — rich in resource, culture and beauty. As the second largest country in Africa, she is home to over 60 million people representing more than 450 tribes and languages.
Although DRC’s tribes have lived together for centuries, some influential leaders have exploited their differences and created artificial ethnic rivalries. Sustained conflicts have been fueled by various sources: armed militias, land disputes, the return of refugees and internally displaced people, gender-based violence and the widespread rape of women. As a result, the nation and its people have been engaged in a cycle of conflict and violence which has stolen more than five million lives and kept millions more from being able to realize their full potential.
Since 1996, people have not experienced a notable period of peace. In fact, the majority of children in eastern DRC have never known peace in their lives.
An Instrument of Peace
It’s easy to be overwhelmed and discouraged by this conflict-ridden history. There are days when I myself struggle to see beyond these seemingly devastating challenges. Yet I believe that God gave us the very instrument needed to establish peace in DRC: the Church.
I did not always recognize the power the local church could have in bringing peace to DRC. In fact, prior to joining the World Relief team, I worked as a Pentecostal pastor. I loved my congregation, but we were inward-looking, believing our needs and our views were all that was important. Working with World Relief has changed the way I view things. I now see that when the whole body of Christ is united together — regardless of church or denomination – we can move mountains.
At World Relief, we believe that when the church is mobilized to achieve its full potential, it has the power to change our world. The local church offers the greatest hope of reconciliation between classes, tribes, ethnicities and political parties by unifying people under a common identity in Christ. In DRC, I’ve seen this with my own eyes.
As head of the Department of Mobilizing Churches for Integral Mission, I lead trainings with local church leaders, encouraging them to recognize the positive impact of coming together in unity to address their community’s problems. Together, I’ve witnessed these once divided churches mobilize to serve the most vulnerable — building houses for widows and widowers, visiting the sick and taking care of orphans.
As a field agent, I also facilitated the establishment of 130 village peace committees in some of the DRC’s most tumultuous areas. Through this effort, we reunited more than 2,000 divided families, as well as the communities of North Kivu Province, who once saw one another as enemies, but who today come together as friends working toward peace and unity.
Village Peace Committees are part of an ongoing peacebuilding initiative that World Relief has embarked on in partnership with local churches and community leaders in eastern DRC. Each committee is made up of 10 members from various social and ethnic groups in the community who are trained in conflict mediation and relationship restoration, seeking to promote peace between individuals, families and communities. This mediation interrupts the cycles of revenge that have the potential to escalate to violence by focusing on reconciliation and forgiveness.
A Vision for Unity
Today, many local churches have become instruments for transformation and unity in DRC. Five years ago I would not have believed this possible. And it’s my greatest prayer that this can be true for the global church, too — that God’s people, united around their common identity as children of the Most High, would lead us in the way of Peace.
On the night before He was crucified, Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father were one (John 17:21). The theme extends throughout scripture. Psalm 133 exclaims “how good and pleasant is it when brothers dwell together in unity.”
1 Corinthians 1:10 appeals “that there be no divisions among you.” And Galatians 3:28 tells us “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
As Christians, we are called to be agents of peace, and to put our identity in Christ alone. This is no small task, and it is hard work. But I believe this was the very purpose for which the church was created. As followers of Jesus, we must be the shining city upon the hill. We must lead in love because we cannot call people to live differently if we ourselves cannot gather together in peace and unity.
Each night, my family and I gather in prayer for DRC. We pray for the people of our nation, for sustainable peace and for DRC to serve as an example of the change that is possible when once divided churches and communities unify for peace.
Take the next step to build peace and lasting change in communities across the globe by joining The Path. Now through September 30, 2021, when you join The Path with a monthly gift, your entire first year of giving will be matched up to $100,000.
Berger Bireo has been working with World Relief DR Congo since 2013. He started as a conflict resolution facilitator and is currently Deputy Program Coordinator and Chaplain of World Relief Congo. He is passionate about working for social, economic and spiritual change for World Relief staff and their families, as well as for whole communities in order to create peace for the sustainable development of God‘s children.
Get to Know Our Staff: DR Congo
Liliane Maombi is a passionate leader with 17 years of experience working in the sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) health field in the Goma region of DR Congo. She holds degrees in nursing and reproductive health with a specialization in midwifery, and she cares deeply about coming alongside women as they heal.
Today, Liliane serves as World Relief DR Congo’s SGBV/HIV Officer. She joined World Relief in February 2021 and leads the team in fighting against gender-based violence and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. She approaches her work with creativity, leading awareness workshops, forming youth clubs, creating flyers and collaborating with local authorities and other NGOs to decrease gender-based violence and prevent HIV/AIDs. She cares deeply about the women she works with and feels it is God’s call on her life to come alongside them with compassion and mercy.
Though her work keeps her busy, Liliane took a few moments out of her day to share a bit of her personal story and about her work at World Relief.
We are grateful for Liliane and the rest of our team in DR Congo. We invite you to pray for them as they lead and serve others in vulnerable situations. On Sunday, May 22, 2021 Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano, erupted just six miles from the city of Goma where World Relief DR Congo has an office. The lava flow affected 297,016 people including two World Relief Staff who lost their homes. Our team is on the ground working to assess the needs of those affected. If you want to join World Relief in responding when and where disasters happen you can join us on The Path, and be a part of a community that is able to give monthly where it’s needed most.
Liliane Maombi started working with World Relief in February 2021. She supervises sexual and gender based violence/HIV programming as the SGBV/HIV Officer in the North Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is her mission and passion to walk alongside and bring healing to women survivors of SGBV and/or HIV who have been marginalized in their communities. She received her BS degree in Reproductive Health, specializing in midwifery, from the Higher Institute of Medical Training of Goma in 2019. She also has received several degrees in the field of Nursing. Liliane has acted as an emergency health professional in the Goma area since 2003 for numerous international non-profit organizations, including CARE International, Save the Children, and the International Rescue Committee.
Crisis in Sudan: Responding to Violence and Empowering Women
Civil Unrest in Geneina
On January 16, 2021, civil unrest was reported in the Geneina area in West Darfur as a result of violence between Masalit and Arab tribesmen — groups that have had a long history of conflict over land and water resources. Tensions have continued to grow in the days since this recent bout of violence, resulting in:
- About 183,000 displaced people in the Darfur region, with an additional 3,500 who crossed the border into Chad*
- At least 470 deaths and 300 injuries
- An estimated 149,000 displaced people in West Darfur alone*
In crises such as these, women and girls are especially vulnerable. While women and girls in Sudan already face challenges due to their gender, these challenges become more pronounced when they are living in displacement camps as a result of violence in their communities.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states that “sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including domestic violence and alcohol abuse, increases in such circumstances. Women and girls may be attacked as they look for firewood or water outside the camp”, and “As financial resources are depleted, adolescent girls are married off at increasingly younger ages”.
A Trusted Partner
Over the last several years, World Relief Sudan has become a trusted agency among the Sudanese people, other NGOs and the Sudanese government. This trust enabled our team to quickly respond to the latest humanitarian crisis in partnership with UN agencies and other INGOs.
World Relief Sudan was recently awarded $900,000 in emergency funds from the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (through the UNDP) to provide immediate humanitarian assistance.
Our emergency response thus far has included provision of potable water and emergency latrines, hygiene promotion training, mobile health services for pregnant women and children under five and distribution of basic non-food items for 39,000 internally displaced persons.
Unique Challenges for Women
World Relief Sudan is well aware of the specific challenges which women and girls face in such environments and is taking measures to prevent violence, protect vulnerable beneficiaries and support the agency and voices of women in their communities.
Among the many projects to provide for the immediate needs of displaced people, the emergency response team is working to ensure that all people in displacement camps have a clean water source less than 1km from their temporary dwelling.
These water points are fenced, to reduce the possibility of violence around these areas, as violence towards women is common when women travel outside of their villages to collect water. By reducing the distance to water points and fencing them in, women are at far lower risk of being attacked.
In addition, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) committees are being formed — and are composed of at least 40% women — to monitor the use and maintenance of said water points.
WASH committees are important because they ensure regular maintenance and orderly use of the access points. When women are on these committees, they can better emphasize the protection of women and children at water access points.
What’s more, because these committees are made up of local residents, they will continue in their work long after World Relief has left the area.
Challenging for Change
As the conflict in West Darfur continues, women, girls, men and boys are all receiving effective emergency services from World Relief Sudan to mitigate their present challenges.
These services are provided with special emphasis on gender protection and representation, challenging communities to change the way they engage with one another, and empowering women to take leadership roles in their communities.
*Update: As of May 12, 2021, the number of people displaced by the current conflict has increased:
- 151,400 IDPs in Geneina (West Darfur) from Jan-April 2021
- 65,000 newly displaced IDPs in April alone
- Total of 237,000 people displaced by conflict in the Darfur region in the first 4 months of 2021 – which is more than 4 times those displaced by conflict in all of 2020.
Lydia Dawson serves as World Relief’s Humanitarian and Disaster Response Unit Program Officer in Sudan, and in disaster response worldwide. Prior to joining World Relief, Lydia worked in homeless services and community development in Oregon and California. She is passionate about equity and honor for underrepresented groups, both locally and internationally.
COVID and the Issues: Gender-Based Violence
An estimated 243 million women and girls around the world have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner in the last 12 months. Experts warn that this number is likely to increase dramatically as security, health and money worries heighten stress within homes, and confined living conditions place women at heightened risk.
Today, in the last of our six-week series, COVID and the Issues, we’re talking with Joanna Kretzer Chun, World Relief’s Director of our Program Resource Team who reveals why many are calling the rise in COVID related gender-based violence the “shadow pandemic.”
In the discussion that follows, Joanna explains how World Relief takes a comprehensive approach to preventing gender-based violence. She explains some of the factors that are creating this “shadow pandemic,” and reveals why women at risk of gender-based violence are less likely to get the help they need right now. While there are no simple solutions, it was encouraging to hear Joanna’s thoughts on what we’re learning as an organization and how these learnings can help women both now and in the future.
To learn more about how COVID-19 is affecting other program areas, view the rest of the COVID and the Issues series here.
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