Two-thirds of Congolese live in extreme poverty. Even in fertile provinces, as our recent study shows half of all children are stunted from malnutrition. Two million people are displaced. The country suffers from corruption, lack of investment and an ineffective government. The worst of the war is over, but the crisis for children remains.

"The DRC is emerging from a terrible war," says Nicole Henze, our fragile states project adviser. "The support for this transitional time needs to be there, or children die."

It is rare, nearly nonexistent, to find a child who doesn’t have multiple problems – acute malnutrition as well as lack of education, or abuse in the home on top of chronic illness. That’s why our DRC programme has developed an integrated range of supports – a child might receive regular health check-ups and start school, or be reunified with his or her family and given vocational training. This approach gives us the greatest chance of success with children and their communities.

Through Save the Children’s fragile states project, we have strengthened our emergency response and ability to confront the enormous obstacles of geography, conflict and uncertain funding to help the DRC’s children.

In a country where a fifth of children don’t live to see their fifth birthday and which has one of the world’s poorest health systems, we are saving lives. In 2010, we provided healthcare to 43,972 children and 12,750 women of reproductive age, and more than 80,000 households took part in some health education.

Many aid agencies work on child protection and sexual violence, but few specifically address the needs of the 45-60% of rape survivors who are under 18. We work with local organisations to provide medical, health, legal and psycho-social support to the half of rape victims who are children.

In 2010, we helped 1,750 abducted and separated children find their families, and withdrew more than 8,000 children from hazardous child labour.

Just four years from 2015, the deadline by which countries are committed to providing universal primary education, nearly half of all Congolese children – 3 million – are out of school.

In the first half of 2010, we helped more than 5,000 children start school for the first time, and more than 50,000 children now attend schools in which teachers are trained and have the necessary materials for learning.

What’s urgent now
• We’re committed to delivering an ambitious life-saving programme of treatment, vaccinations, trained health workers and anti-malnutrition measures. Our aim: to save 500,000 lives in two years.
• By 2011, we’ll help keep 208,000 at-risk children safe from of displacement, separation from their families, sexual violence and military recruitment.
• By the end of 2010 we’ll be providing access to primary education to 20,000 children, half of them girls, and helping 90,000 achieve more in school. [We’ll need to update these stats with the DRC 2010 annual report.]
• We’ll help at least 20% of children affected by acute emergencies.