Thomas Tumusifu Buregeya longs to be studying for his final school exams, but instead he is struggling to make a living doing odd jobs in an internally displaced people’s camp in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was forced to flee his home in October with his family amid a renewed offensive by the M23 rebel group, marking the third time in 15 years that he has been forced to escape his home, leaving him unable to complete a full year of schooling. Buregeya is now 22 and still waiting to finish school, but like many young people in the region, his education has been disrupted by insecurity. In late March, the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) estimated that around 750,000 young Congolese are affected by the insecurity in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri.
Buregeya spends his days in the camp outside the provincial capital of Goma, leaning against the tin wall of the local church or playing cards with schoolfriends who have also been displaced from Kibumba. The situation is dire, with some 2,100 schools in eastern Congo closing since January 2022 due to armed conflict. The impact of this disruption to education could be long-lasting, as without access to schooling, children and young people miss the chance to develop the skills needed to escape poverty and overcome the economic challenges that fuel conflict in the mineral-rich region.
In 2011, a United Nations report on global education and armed conflict highlighted the importance of education in conflict-affected areas. Buregeya fears that time is running out for him, as his dream was to go to university after high school and become a teacher to earn a living.