The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the poorest in the world, as it is among the bottom ten countries in the Human Development Index and it is estimated that 15.6 million people need humanitarian aid. 4.7 million suffer from acute malnutrition, of which 3.4 million are children under five years of age.
The educational system is affected by low coverage and poor quality. Today, almost 7 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are out of school. Poverty is a major obstacle to education, as parents in the DRC bear the burden of the direct costs of education, contributing $2 for every $1 the government spends on primary education. In addition, there are entrenched socio-cultural barriers to education and other vulnerabilities such as child labour, early and forced marriage, early pregnancy and disability.
Street Child's multi-level approach includes building and rehabilitating schools, training teachers, managing school quality, engaging parents, removing economic barriers to education and tackling social barriers, and cultural factors that prevent the most marginalized children from receiving a quality education.
