Kinshasa: The Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi Humanitarian Foundation (KSQF) has announced a strategic partnership with UNICEF to launch a pioneering project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The initiative is dedicated to withdrawing children from the informal mining sector while establishing holistic, community-led systems to prevent future exploitation.
According to Emirates News Agency, the announcement coincides with World Day Against Child Labour on 12th June, highlighting the urgent need for collective action to protect children from exploitation worldwide. Across the DRC, millions of children face vulnerabilities in mining zones. Although the last DRC census was in 1984, the UN estimates 54 million children under the age of 18 live in the country. According to the 2023-2024 Demographic and Health Survey, one in ten Congolese children aged 5-17 (11%) worked in dangerous conditions, with the most frequently reported dangerous condition being carrying heavy loads (7%). Overall, about 2 in 10 children (18%) were engaged in economic activities or household chores exceeding the thresholds defined for their age or had worked in dangerous conditions.
In the informal mining sector, children are exposed daily to toxic dust, hazardous machinery, risk of collapse, and violence. Many earn as little as $1-$3 per day, an income considered essential for household survival but which robs them of education and long-term development. International agencies classify mining-related child labour as one of the worst forms of child exploitation, given its immediate risks and long-term consequences, including chronic illness, disability, and intergenerational poverty.
Committed to advancing child welfare, KSQF is supporting a holistic initiative with UNICEF that addresses the root causes of child labour, including poverty and barriers to education. The programme combines direct support for children with assistance for families and strengthened protection systems across schools and communities. It is expected to directly benefit more than 200 children and 100 households, while strengthening the capacity of social workers, teachers, and local institutions to prevent exploitation.
Lujan Mourad, Director of KSQF, stated that child labour in the mining sector is a grave humanitarian challenge, stripping children of their health, safety, and future. The project with UNICEF is an urgent call to action to protect children, empower families, and build systems that meet the highest international standards of child protection. The initiative is aimed at ensuring that children are in schools, not mines, and that communities can break free from the cycles of poverty and exploitation.
John AGBOR, Resident Representative, UNICEF, emphasized the right of every child to a safe childhood. The partnership with KSQF aims to consolidate proven solutions that not only remove children from dangerous labour but also provide education, vocational skills, and a chance to grow in dignity. The project exemplifies how global collaboration can drive sustainable change and bring us closer to achieving international development goals.
The project builds on UNICEF's TPS+ model, first piloted in 2023, which identifies vulnerable children, connects them to social services, and supports their families through financial and capacity-building interventions. In 2024 alone, 1,015 children were removed from mines, with 599 re-enrolled in schools and 416 placed in vocational programmes. None returned to mining.
KSQF's and UNICEF's partnership, implemented in Kambove Health Zone in Haut Katanga province, will directly support more than 200 children and remove them from the mining sector through strengthened protection services, expanded access to education and vocational pathways, and assistance for families to help reduce economic vulnerability.
The programme will also focus on empowering households, delivering monthly cash transfers to 100 families, providing financial literacy training, and support for cooperative-led income-generating activities. It aims to drive advocacy and public awareness, raising community and national understanding of the dangers of child labour, engaging child reporters as youth advocates, and building partnerships with the private sector to strengthen accountability and embed young people's protection within broader development frameworks.
The DRC supplies over 75% of the world's cobalt, copper, and other minerals essential for the global energy transition. Yet, this global demand comes at a human cost borne by children in informal mines. The programme is structured for long-term sustainability, with capacity-building for parasocial workers assisting with ongoing child protection and household income-generation schemes preventing children from returning to mines. The insights gained will establish a scalable model of child protection, designed for replication across the DRC and in mining regions globally.