Children Living or Working on the Street

Children living and working on the street are some of the most excluded and unprotected in the world. While some are homeless with their families, or return home at night after working on the street, many others are without parental care or a home and have no viable alternatives. This may be the result of family disintegration, conflict, poverty, HIV/AIDS, abuse or neglect. Life on the street exposes children to a myriad of risks and robs them of the safety and comfort that a family environment can offer. 

Displaying 1 - 10 of 221

Richard Sililo, Nsala Mauzu,

This study examines the challenges African governments face in integrating orphaned and vulnerable children into orphanages and home-based care facilities, with a focus on Zambia. Findings reveal major barriers including insufficient funding, unregistered orphanages, poor coordination with NGOs, cultural factors, and the attitudes of the children themselves.

Sylvia Agu,

This book offers a comprehensive and rights-based legal framework addressing the unique challenges faced by children living on the streets. The book delivers a detailed analysis of international legal instruments—both binding treaties and relevant “soft law”—to clarify how they apply to such children.

Bassema Kindja Marie France, Ilunga Kandolo Simon, Bienfait Mwarabu Much’Apa, et al.,

This study assessed the situation of street children in Lubumbashi, DRC through a survey of 250 children across the city’s seven municipalities in November 2021. he findings highlight the urgent need for stronger state involvement, organizational support, and parental responsibility to address and reduce the phenomenon of street children.

Sefatul Islam,

The objective of the study is to explore the impact of residence and education status on the basic needs of street children in Pabna Municipality, Bangladesh.

Okoro Sunday Asangausung, Ebere James Okorie, Aniefiok Sunday Ukommi,

This study found that parental poverty is a key factor pushing children in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria into street life, where deprivation drives them to engage in delinquent activities such as theft, drug peddling, and begging. The findings highlight urgent gaps in child welfare and social protection, calling for targeted interventions to address poverty, improve access to education and healthcare, and strengthen support systems.

Johanna K. P. Greeson, John R. Gyourko, Sarah Wasch, Christopher S. Page,

This is a program evaluation of Agape Children's Ministry's Family Strengthening Programme in western Kenya that works to reunite children from the streets with their families.

Global Childhood Studies Journal,

This is a recording of the first session in a webinar series celebrating the launch of of a themed issue of Global Childhood Studies journal (Volume.2; Issue.1). This first webinar focuses on Responding to varied experiences of childhood separation.

Ruth Edmonds, Alfred Ochaya, Nicola Sansom,

This article explores the role resilience processes play in education and well-being outcomes for street-connected children. It draws on research and practice undertaken as part of the Building with Bamboo Programme (BwB) on resilience. BwB investigated the forms a resilience-based approach might usefully take in practice, the effect this has on promoting resilience in children, and how this resilience leads to improved outcomes in their lives.

Adekunle Alaye,

This study examined the reasons for the pervasiveness of the practice of child abandonment, using the “Skolombo Boys and Lakasara Girls’’ in Calabar, the state capital of Cross River State, Nigeria, as the analytical context.

Hope and Homes for Children, Miracle Foundation and Railway Children,

These presentations from Hope and Homes for Children, Miracle Foundation and Railway Children were delivered during the August 20, 2021, workshop of the Care Measurement Task Force of the Transforming Children's Care Global Collaborative Platform. The focus of the workshop was child and family outcome measurement.