Edito
Bounce back...
Our general meeting approved the 2016 accounts. They show a loss of €846,171, mainly due to excessive commitments of funds to our partners, which prevented the NGO from securing a series of co-financing and valuation deals. While this was ‘beneficial’ to our partners, it nevertheless significantly reduced our equity capital.
Fortunately, the continuity of operations is not threatened thanks to the urgent measures that have been taken. In the very short term, these measures aim to ensure that the 2017 financial year will not result in a loss. This will be achieved in particular through a reduction in operating costs and efforts in the area of human resources.
The Board of Directors has also entrusted two of its members with conducting an institutional and financial audit, the results of which have enabled the Board to take a first series of important decisions regarding the organisation of the NGO. These form the basis of an action plan for the gradual reorganisation of the head office and field teams. The NGO will now focus on a new ‘Programmes’ department, supported in its actions by a ‘Support’ department.
The aim of this refocusing on programmes, coupled with the efforts of the various teams, is to enable us to bounce back and increase the efficiency of our organisation. This will enable us to strengthen the quality of the work carried out with our 140 or so partners with a view to improving the living conditions of the populations in our areas of intervention.
We would like to commend the strong mobilisation of the Louvain Coopération teams in taking up this challenge.
Marthe Nyssens
Chairperson of the Board of Directors
In Kinshasa, Louvain Coopération supports a project for the ‘Reintegration of street children into their families’. After two years of hard work, more than 1,000 young people have been rescued from the dangers of the streets. These are encouraging results, even if the challenge remains enormous.
Three years ago, Louvain Coopération, with the help of the Monsengwo Foundation and Entrepreneurs pour Entrepreneurs, decided to take on a major challenge: to support and reintegrate street children in Kinshasa. Behind these three common words, ‘street children’, lies a reality that is beyond comprehension: an estimated 25,000 children live on the streets of the Congolese capital. They have fled their families due to abuse or have been driven out after being accused of witchcraft.
Some can barely walk. Others, who are older, can fend for themselves and make a living from odd jobs or petty theft. All around them, the dangers of the street are ever-present: drugs, prostitution and violence of all kinds can become part of their daily lives. To help them, Louvain Coopération first joined forces with the OEuvre de Reclassement et de Protection pour les Enfants de la Rue (ORPER), which has extensive experience in this field.
‘A pilot phase was first set up in April 2015,’ says Antoine Ketikila, a Louvain Coopération consultant based in Kinshasa. ‘Our initial goal was to help 250 children, but we ended up taking care of 311!’ Following these results, Louvain Coopération decided to continue the project until 2019 and to include two other local socio-educational structures: Don Bosco Maison Papy and Ndako Ya Biso from the Chemin Neuf Community.