The crisis
They mined the metal in your phone.
The crisis facing children in the Congo and Burkina Faso — in numbers.
Why it matters
A child on the street tonight is a child the world has agreed to overlook.
We don't agree.
The Democratic Republic of Congo
The Congo holds the minerals the world runs on — and children pay the price in its mines. Coltan dug by small hands ends up in the phone in your pocket. We work to get children out of the pits and into classrooms.
Burkina Faso, West Africa
Children here face homelessness and exploitation with almost no safety net beneath them. We went. We saw. We're going back — with shelter, schooling, and a plan.
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Sources & notes. Conflict deaths: an estimated 5.4 million excess deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1998-2007 (International Rescue Committee mortality surveys). Homelessness: an estimated 318 million people worldwide (UN-Habitat, 2025). Forced labor: an estimated 27.6 million people in forced labor worldwide (ILO, Walk Free, and IOM, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, 2022). Figures described as organization-reported are self-reported by From Rags To Decency and have not been independently audited.