WHY WE NEED TO HELP THE PEOPLE IN DR. CONGO

According to the human rights watch report of 2020, the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo remains quite alarming. There are about 4.5 million internally displaced people in the country, with a high 890 000 people from the country registered as asylum seekers and refugees. This, and other challenges, is the alarming cause that ASBL LEF Luxembourg has identified. Through our programs and projects in Luxembourg, we hope to make donations to NGOs in DR. Congo to execute humanitarian projects that aim to alleviate this general poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What are the challenges that the people of DR. Congo face? What challenges do these people face that make them the priority of a non-profit organization, as is the ASBL LEF? In subsequent paragraphs, we would discuss the challenges facing the people of DR. Congo that ASBL LEF aims to gather donations for in order to solve. ASBL LEF is a non-profit organization with the aim to raise donations for humanitarian projects in DR. Congo through ASBL DR. Congo.

• Poverty: The Democratic Republic of Congo is the second-largest country in Africa by landmass. It has the largest freshwater reserve in Africa. The country is a major world exporter of cobalt and diamond. By virtue of this, it is expected that a country so blessed will be a blessing of abundance to her people. Sadly, the poverty level in the Democratic Republic of Congo is high. The country remains one of the most impoverished countries in the world, with more than fifty percent of its population living below the poverty line. Although, there has been recent improvement in the last few years, the citizens continued to live in extreme poverty amid the constant fear of war and terrorism. The country’s economy has been crippled by successive years of political and ethnic unrest.

This reason is why ASBL LEF, a non-profit organization in Luxembourg, has created events and programs to raise donations for the projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These donations so raised would be used by NGO in DR. Congo, a non-profit organization in DR. Congo, to create projects and programs that are aimed at alleviating the poverty level in the country.

• Education: The literacy rate of DR. Congo is sixty-seven percent (67%) of the whole population. Female literacy is about 57%, which translates to a reality that only just above half of all females in the country above the age of fifteen (15) can read and write. As a result of the civil wars that plagued the country for six (6) years, over 5.2 million children in the country lived without attending any formal education between the 1990s and the early 2000s. However, actual school attendance has since increased, with 83.4% of boys of ages 6 to 11 now enrolled in primary school and 80.6% for the girls.

As part of ASB LEF’s non-profit activities, we have designed educational projects that involve the building of educational institutions and donations of educational materials to schools. We have also designed programs to create awareness of education’s importance in developing the nation’s economy. All these projects would require taking donations at our various programs at ASBL LEF. The donations would be used to execute these projects through our non-profit organization in DR. Congo. We implore you to join us as we improve the education status in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• Health and Social Care: The Democratic Republic of Congo has the second-highest infant mortality rate in the world. As of 2012, an estimated 1.1% of all adults between the ages of 15-49 were living the HIV/AIDS diseases. Malaria and Yellow Fever are other illnesses that affect the people of the country. The state of maternal health is poor in the country, with the country having the seventeenth highest maternal mortality rate in the world as of 2010. According to a report from UNICEF, 43.5% of children under the age of five are stunted. The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the country surpassed 1000 in the fifth month of 2019. According to the United Nation’s warning, the worsening state of COVID-19 and the country’s escalating conflicts are putting millions of lives at risk of dying from hunger. Finally, from the World Food Programme data, four people of ten in the country lack food security, with more than 15.6 million people facing hunger crises.

How can people who cannot afford to eat afford to fight COVID-19? It has become apparent that something must be done and fast. This is why we have made it a cause of non-profit action at ASBL LEF to raise donations to solve some of these problems. Through NGO in DR. Congo, we aim to provide food and shelter to displaced people as well as the entire populace.

• Infrastructure and Public Utilities: More than three-quarters of the population in DR. Congo do not have access to clean and safe drinking water, despite being the home to the largest water reserve in Africa. According to reports, only fifteen percent of the population has access to electricity, with the rest of the country living in darkness and heat. Access to medical care is sparse in most rural areas, and it is difficult for most of the populace to access required medical aid. The number of healthcare lies at an average of 0.09 physicians for every 1000 people. Government spending on health care still remains among the lowest globally.

As a non-profit organization, the ASBL LEF has periodic programs from taking donations for providing some of these basic amenities to the people, especially the people in the rural areas. We will use these donations to finance NGO in DR. Congo to facilitate social and medical infrastructural projects across the country’s rural communities.

In general, an extended period of political unrest has stagnated the Democratic Republic of Congo’s development as a country. Many lives have been lost, millions have been displaced from their home, and many more have received life-altering injuries. Education, social, and health care development received little government attention until the late 2010s. The citizens of the country lived in constant fear of war and political crisis. All these have ensured that life in DR. Congo is difficult and hellish, with little and no hope lingering on the horizon. Therefore, it has become our collective responsibility to ensure that these people have access to the basic things in life such as food, shelter, clean water, health, and education.

At ASBL LEF, we understand that the world is one, and there are people across the world who understand that we are responsible for one another. However, we also understand that these people work hard to make a life for themselves and deserve to spend their free time on things that help them relax and have fun. This is why we have made our fundraising events to cut across sports, social gatherings, indoor games, and the Arts. We hope to entertain our cheerful givers with the things that interest them while they donate towards championing humanity’s cause.

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