In the Global South
Our strategy
These are identified by ETM. They are eligible provided that their values and vision match ours and that their work brings about social change towards greater justice and well-being for the poorest social groups.
ETM chooses to support medium-sized structures and organisations where its support can have a real impact, rather than being diluted in the budgets of much larger organisations.
All our work aims, directly or indirectly, to bring about structural and lasting improvements in the situation of groups and individuals from the poorest sections of society in our partner countries: children and young people living on the streets, orphans, children and young people in conflict with the law, abandoned children, children with disabilities, with priority given to girls and young women in precarious situations.
As our strategy for action is based on partnership, we give our partners a special place in our programmes and projects
Our principles of intervention
01
The child at the heart of our work
02
The integrated approach
03
Gender equality
04
The power of local populations
05
Cooperation
06
Lifelong learning
Nos critères de sélection
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a contextual analysis is carried out in consultation with the partner
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the objectives and working methods are adapted to the local context
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the expected results are clearly defined and take local capacities into account
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the partners and target groups meet the general criteria of Enfance Tiers Monde
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the implementation strategy takes into account the sectoral policy of the national and local public authorities
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the action will take account of cross-cutting issues such as gender, HIV/AIDS and human rights.
Some criteria that the actions must meet:
Our priorities
“Educating girls is a waste of money, because they get married and leave”
This view is widely held in many countries. One consequence of this mentality is that two thirds of all illiterate people – people aged 15 or over who can neither read nor write – in the world are women.
One woman in three worldwide is illiterate, compared with one man in five. There are many reasons for this gap. The main ones are:
Poverty
In many countries, parents do not have enough money to pay school fees when state education is not free. These costs include, for example: the parents’ voluntary contribution to salaries and institutional costs, uniforms, books and travel costs. For many, these costs are a luxury and, as needs must, poor families think it better for their daughters to stay at home and help with the housework. Many young girls thus spend their days gathering wood, fetching water and looking after the younger children… On top of this, parents notice that girls who have been to school do not necessarily find well-paid jobs as a result.
Tradition
In poor countries, many parents think that their sons should receive an education, because they will later have to provide for their families. Boys will also be expected to look after their parents in old age. Girls’ work is often poorly paid, even though they sometimes work longer hours and do heavier work. That is why it is assumed that a woman can never be the family’s breadwinner. In cultures where a young woman leaves her family after marriage to go and live with her husband’s family, her parents see little point in investing in her education.
The target groups of ETM are children and young people.
Priority is given to street-connected children and young people, the most deprived children and young people, young people who have not received appropriate training, rejected or abandoned children, orphans, unemployed young graduates and children with disabilities. Particular attention will be paid to girls.
Abandoned children accused of witchcraft
The Democratic Republic of the Congo had already been afflicted by the scourge of child soldiers. Today it must face another, equally worrying problem: that of so-called witch children, Ndoki in the Lingala language.
Belief in witchcraft is widespread in Africa, but the myth of the witch child is not part of Congolese culture. In Kinshasa, until recently, nobody spoke of witch children.
This phenomenon only developed in the mid-1990s, with the emergence of religious sects, fuelled by the rural exodus caused by economic hardship and the ravages of war.
Extremely impoverished, and usually living in appalling destitution with no way out in sight, the Congolese people today cling to myths in every area of life.
Across the country, thousands of children are thus labelled as witches. The pattern is always the same: overwhelmed by unemployment, struck by bereavement, victims of an accident or simply living in unbearable poverty, families look for a scapegoat for their misfortunes and find it in their child, whom they blame for all their ills.
Held responsible for an illness, a death, a divorce, a lack of money or even a minor inconvenience, the child is then accused of witchcraft and quickly becomes the focus of violent family conflicts. Mistreated, stigmatised and marginalised, the child is ultimately rejected and then banished from the family clan, with no option but to take to the streets.
These persecutions are encouraged by the sects that are proliferating in the large Congolese cities. These new “churches” stand to gain from this: they charge families exorbitant fees for their services to lift the spell from the so-called little witches.
Very often, it is the “pastors” themselves who, out of greed, designate the child as the bearer of demonic powers and make him or her a sacrificial victim, whom they hasten to exorcise, often demanding large donations from the parents.
Attentive listening to the family, combined with patient and sustained mediation, is in most cases enough to restore the child’s rights, if he or she is lucky enough to be identified and taken into care by a specialised organisation.