06/28/2006

Children in the DRC must assist with household duties. Refugees International met these young children out by themselves and asked them why they were alone. They told us: “We were sent by our family to collect firewood. There is nobody to go with us, so we all go alone”. Children in Katanga are at risk for abduction to serve as child combatants by armed groups in this area. There have also been recorded cases of both boys and girls enduring rape and other gender-based violence abuses while collecting firewood.