Balou: support 200 kids with disability in Congo

Dear Donors,

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC - an innovative multi-partner initiative for improving food security and nutrition analysis and decision-making made up of Governments, UN Agencies, NGOs, civil society and other relevant actors) analysis found that between January and June 2023 in the Democratic Republic of Congo 25.8 million people continue to face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity.

The most determining factors are:

-          Conflicts and insecurity – the intensification of armed conflicts continues to cause the massive displacement of the population. 2.3 million displaced people have to leave their livelihood to escape the war that limits their possibility to access to food;

-          Prices increase – since July 2022 food prices keep on growing. In particular the price of corn and beans remain superior compared to the seasonal average and the purchasing power of the local population remains low;

-          Humanitarian assistance – the prolonged nature of the current crises in the DRC and the emergence of new crises (in Sudan and Ukraine) could exacerbate the already precarious situation of households in need of food assistance;

-          Agricultural production - Previous weather anomalies (mainly poor distribution of precipitation and excessive precipitation that cause floods) lead to the decrease of agricultural production. Ongoing conflicts also continue to prevent or reduce people’s access to production basins.

In this general context of the country, Aleimar continues to monitor the state of food safety and overall security of Katanga region, where all our projects are developed. In Lubumbashi our support to Balou center goes on in order to make it autonomous from an energy point of view. The installation of the photovoltaic panels has been completed during these last months and in June our Aleimar technician will take part in the periodic monitoring trip. This will be the opportunity to personally verify if all the connections have been perfectly made and if there will be the necessity to make any technical change.

This center supports a really high number of disable children and teenagers in need. Its activities are fundamental for the promotion of the rights of all these children that otherwise would be on the margins of society. For all these reasons Aleimar would like to keep on supporting the Balou center and the near hospital also after the installation of the photovoltaic system. Your help would make it all possible!

Thank you!