Newsletters October 2025

Date de publication: October 25, 2025

Dear Members and Friends,

Thank you for taking a few moments to read these Updates; Our work is relentless but your support is highly valued

1° Syria

In August, 45 children were assisted by our local team, including 4 new admissions during the month. In September, 10 new babies were taken in, keeping the total number of children we support at 45.

Context:

Bissan Fakih, Middle East Campaigner at Amnesty International, based in Beirut, shares her reflections following a mission organized by A.I. to Damascus — the organization’s first official access to Syria since the uprising began in 2011.

“Although I’ve been working on the issue of enforced disappearances in Syria for over 10 years and know the estimated figures, I still left Syria in shock and overwhelmed by just how many people are affected. Back in Beirut, as I leafed through my notebook, I saw a line I had scribbled: ‘In every room I was in, there wasn’t a single one where the people hadn’t been affected- who hadn’t been detained or whose family members had ‘disappeared’.

Even away from our work, you could feel the pain everywhere and in everyone.

2° Democratic Republic of the Congo

Notes from one of our members who carried out a mission in the region from October 2 to 14:

“General situation in Eastern DRC: Congolese M23 rebels, largely and openly supported by the Rwandan army, have taken control through armed conflict of about two-thirds of North Kivu and one-third of South Kivu — territories they govern despotically, often cruelly, and in total violation of human rights.
The major cities of Goma and Bukavu have fallen since last spring. The M23 is now only about 25 km north of Uvira, a city they covet, but their advance is currently blocked by a coalition of Congolese and Burundian troops.
Eastern borders are closed to foreigners both north and south, so I could not set foot on Congolese soil. In Entebbe (Uganda), I spent three days with our Goma partners, then in Burundi, where our South Kivu partners joined me one by one for meetings.
The entire region is engulfed in fire and blood.
The so-called peace agreement signed in Washington between the DRC and Rwanda — which the Trump administration boasts about excessively — as well as the Doha accord between the DRC and M23, have in reality brought no relief on the ground, where fighting, massacres, and grave abuses continue unabated. These diplomatic maneuvers are illusory— they deceive public opinion as much as they deceive themselves.”

Also read from Amnesty International Belgium:
M23 kills, tortures, and holds civilians hostage in detention centers.
Our latest investigation in the DRC exposes the horrors inflicted upon civilians by the March 23 Movement (M23). The acts constitute war crimes.
→ Amnesty International Belgium – M23 crimes

However…

Our work continues, albeit with utmost caution for both our partner teams and beneficiaries and in spite of the ever-present danger.

For the sixth consecutive year, our friends at the Protection et Solidarité association in North Kivu have continued our school reintegration program for young girls who were victims of sexual assault — tragedies that interrupted their education.

Last year, the team identified 23 young victims forced to leave school; but the resources we had meant that we could only help 10 of them.
Seven were successfully reintegrated into primary schools and three into secondary schools.

Testimony from Joyce, 15 years old:

“After what I went through, I thought I would never return to school, because my abuser was my teacher. I was afraid of other teachers judging me, afraid they’d reprimand me for denouncing their friend and colleague. My classmates avoided me, saying I had become a ‘woman’ because I had known a man.
But thanks to Protection et Solidarité, I changed schools and was reintegrated. The teaching team was incredible. The Headmistress welcomed me with kindness. Her gentle advice and regular follow-up gave me a positive view of school.
I’m very happy now and want to finish my studies and become a journalist — to appear on TV and encourage other young girls to study.”

Further south, in the Ruzizi Plain, Vivere has been working since 2020 with its partner association ACMEJ to protect abandoned elderly people by placing them in — and having them “adopted” by — host families. These are rural families,who despite having very modest means, are incredibly generous.

The M23 invasion of Ruzizi caused massive displacement of residents, scattering our host families — some unable to take the elderly persons entrusted to their care with them. Our friends at ACMEJ immediately improvised emergency solutions wherever possible.

This photo shows Zena, one of our protected elderly women, who took refuge in the Middle Plateaus, where volunteers hastily built her a small hut and provided her with food for three months.

Note:

A resolution adopted on April 3, 2025 by the UN Human Rights Council established a working group to draft an international treaty on the human rights of older persons.
https://www.amnesty.be/…/victoire-convention-personnes-agees

Amnesty International Belgium states:

“For too long, older persons have not been recognized as rights holders, often due to ageism — discrimination based on age. Abandoned, neglected, or abused, seniors are widely victims of stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and violence.”

With ACMEJ, we also continue to cover medical treatment for civilians injured during attacks by armed men (national or foreign soldiers, militias, or violent gangs). Care is provided by local health centers for victims who are destitute and have nowhere else to turn..
From October 2024 to June 2025, 19 survivors have been treated. Including hospitalization and treatment, the average cost was CHF 211.65 per person (€228.38).

3° Ukraine: Assistance for War Displaced and Refugees

Internally displaced people in Ukraine:
Food expenses for the past three months amounted to 35,722 UAH for 45 people (40 regular beneficiaries and 5 new victims of human trafficking) — about 794 UAH per person, equivalent to CHF 15.06 (€16.25).
Refugees in Montenegro (July–August):
89 people (37 adults and 52 children) received food aid. They came from Kyiv, Luhansk, Dnipro, Odessa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Donetsk, Kryvyi Rih, Irpin, Sumy, Mariupol, and Kherson.

Refugees in Poland:
During the summer, 150 people (38 women and 112 children) received food, clothing, and hygiene products. They came from Sumy, Kyiv, Odessa, Mariupol, Luhansk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Slaviansk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Borislav, Kremenets, Donetsk, Konstantinovka, Melitopol, Kherson, and Nova Kakhovka.

Testimony from a mother:

“My name is E.R. I was born and raised in Zaporizhzhia. When the war broke out, the real horrors began. We decided to flee with the children. I left in March 2022. My husband is at war. I lived in a shelter with my two children, and now I rent an apartment.
It’s hard for the children — they suffer from psychological problems because they want to go home and struggle to adapt. I worked as a cleaner in apartment buildings, but I’ve just lost my job because I couldn’t renew my contract with management. We were barely getting by before — now it will be even harder. Feeding my family has become very difficult. We are asking for help: your support is essential and precious.”

Vivere’s funds for this program, in the three countries where we operate, are nearly exhausted.
Thank you to anyone reading this who can contribute — every cent counts, and all donations go entirely to our programs in the countries where we operate.

4° Accused of Blasphemy Facing the Death Penalty

For obvious security reasons, we do not publish the name of the country where Vivere works on this cause alongside courageous local lawyers.

Since the beginning of the year, this high-risk work — at high risk of violent retaliation from religious extremists — has achieved two major human victories:

In April, the acquittal of a male minor falsely accused of making impious remarks about a deity.

In September, the acquittal of a woman falsely accused by her neighbor of wiping a sacred book.
Our lawyer proved in court that it was a setup: the accusing neighbor was actually a close friend and accomplice of the woman’s husband, who wanted to get rid of her — even if it meant using a scheme that could have cost her life.

With our heartfelt thanks for your continued support, which has allowed this movement to serve some of the most unjustly endangered human causes for twenty-five years.

Warm regards

The Vivere Committee