On Thursday, September 7, 2023, the School of Criminology of the University of Kinshasa, through its Center for Criminology and Social Pathology, organized a ceremony to present the results of the AHPER approach (Holistic local support for emancipation through socio-professional reintegration) of young people known as kuluna.
In his speech, Professor Raoul KIENGE-KIENGE, Director of the School of Criminology and Coordinator of the project to support young people in their escape from violence, emphasized that this is a solution that the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN-SOLUTION) presents to the problem of violence that involves many young people in the city of Kinshasa.
In an innovative way and different from the repressive approach, this support for young people was carried out in a close manner, with empathy, listening, non-stigmatization, and the valorization of their skills, with a view to their emancipation and their socio-professional reintegration, as an "economic alternative" to violence, which they considered as a job.

From 2020 to 2023, without deporting or moving them from their living environments, 34 young people, specifically from Kimbanseke, N'djili, Mombele, and Kisenso, escaped urban violence by learning three trades, namely sewing, fitting and carpentry, under the supervision of researchers and 6 workshop leaders located in their own neighborhoods.
Thanks to the AHPER approach, these young people, once kuluna, are now able to meet their basic needs while serving the community.
To honor them, academic and political authorities presented them with new work uniforms. At the same time, these young people, their supervisors, and the researchers received official certificates from the University of Kinshasa.
Thus, in the face of ever-increasing demand, the continued promotion and dissemination of the AHPER approach to support other young people is necessary.