With social projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in India, Mercedes-Benz, together with the NGOs Bon Pasteur and Terre des Hommes Netherlands, is creating future opportunities for the local people. We are making a total of more than 1.2 million euros available for this purpose.
More than 60 percent of the world's cobalt extraction comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To address human rights risks effectively and continuously, we have developed the Human Rights Respect System which systematically and risk-based monitors human rights standards in supply chains. To improve the situation of people in the mining region of Kolwezi with educational measures, we are engaged in a cooperation project with the organisation Bon Pasteur. The aim is to achieve improvements for more than 19,000 people by 2022. The three-year project has started successfully, and has achieved important milestones after just over a year.
School attendance and creation of alternative livelihoods
Thanks to the cooperation with Bon Pasteur in the Congo, more than 300 children have attended school in the last twelve months. More than 50 of them had previously worked in mines. In addition to schooling, the children also receive healthcare assistance. Another focus is on creating alternative livelihoods, especially for women, by developing sustainable agriculture for example. More than 50 women have now received training in agricultural techniques. Additional milestones last year included educational advice for parents, education on children’s rights and training in conflict management.
Bon Pasteur is a non-profit organization founded by the Good Shepherd sisters, an international congregation present in 73 countries, to support their programs for children, girls and women focusing on poverty eradication and elimination of all forms of discrimination and violations of human rights.
With Terre des Hommes against child labour in mica mines
The cooperation with Terre des Hommes Netherlands in Jharkhand (India) aims to enable children living near mica mines to attend school, and give economic support to their families. The raw material mica is used, among other things, to produce the shimmering effect in vehicle paints. The project aims to prevent parents from having to send their children to work in mica mines. At the same time, a good education makes it more likely that the children can earn their own living later as adults and that the family is not dependent on income from child labour. In addition to the educational opportunities for children, local structures are to be strengthened and information is to be provided on children's rights. To this end, Mercedes-Benz and Terre des Hommes are also working together with regional aid organizations. The project supported by Mercedes-Benz will initially run until 2022.
