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.

Children living and working on the streets are highly vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, addictions, and crime, and lack access to everyday essential services such as health and education. Their situation is made more difficult as a result of social perceptions of street children. Street children are frequently targeted by the police, beaten, held and charged without due process. Government policies, institutions, and communities may exclude or marginalise children on the street, and deny their basic human rights.

Children living and working on the streets require legal protection by the state, recognition of their rights, and access to public services. Reception and drop- in centres can provide an entry point to basic services, including shelter, food and health provision, education, and income generation projects. While such initiatives can help to sustain children on the street and protect them from high risk behaviours, organisations working with vulnerable children need to work towards preventative measures to reduce the numbers of children who end up homeless. Prevention begins with an assessment of the causes of family separation, identification of those most at risk, and strategies to support family and community placements.

The opinions and preferences of children already on the street must form an integral part of any strategy since the empowerment of such children is necessary to effect change in their own lives. Community reintegration services should be established where possible to provide children with an alternative to street life. All placements, such as kinship or foster care, must be regulated to ensure that they meet the needs of children and are in their best interests.

The resources in this section provide statistical and country information on the situation of children living and working on the street, assessments of their needs, and intervention examples relating to support services, care planning, and access to health and education programmes.

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The Chronic Urban Emergency in Rift Valley Kenya: Report From Profiling Children Connected to the Streets in Rift Valley Province

Save the Children UK and UNICEF, 01 Aug 2012

Research was conducted in five Rift Valley towns in Kenya in 2011 to understand the link between emergencies and the perceived increase of children joining the streets. Findings show that emergencies such as Post Election Violence and drought have caused children to join the streets. By far the biggest reason for children joining the streets was food insecurity. The authors advocate for an urgent, large-scale response to place children currently connected to the streets in durable situations in tandem with a multi-sectorial development approach to tackle and address the root of the crisis.

RETRAK Technical Briefing: Family Reintegration for Children Living on the Streets

Kristen Smith & Joanna Wakia , 07 Jul 2012

Retrak’s technical brief on family reintegration for children living on the streets, acknowledges the difficulties which street children face at home and on the streets. But it also demonstrates that successful family reintegration is possible for street children when there is a focus on the individual child, building positive attachments with care-givers, strengthening families capabilities and involving the wider community.

Retrak: Transforming Lives for Street Associated Children

Retrak, 06 Jul 2012

Retrak is a UK based charity that works with street associated children in Africa to give them a real alternative to life on the street. The following success stories of outreach and reintegration show a promising model for children globally.

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Better Care Network, 06 Jun 2012

The People’s Republic of China issued its third and fourth combined report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 2012. This extract of the report focuses on sections relevant to children's care and in particular those addressing Family Environment and Alternative Care

Retrak Report: De-institutionalization of street children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Zahara Legesse Kauffman & Kelley McCreery Bunkers, 01 Mar 2012

The study was carried out in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The purpose of this research is to utilise information collated from literature review as well as informant interviews and focus group discussions to identify good practices or help inform the development of such practices aimed at assisting street children currently residing in institutional care to return to a family-based environment.

State of the World's Children 2012: Children in an Urban World

UNICEF, 2012

This report provides data on children living in urban settings, including statistics, conditions, and personal testimonies. The report also includes UNICEF’s recommendations for policy regarding children in urban settings, working with this population, and for future action. Sections that are relevant to children’s care include: children living and working on the streets, migrant children, urban emergencies, and many more.

Mkombozi 2012 Census Report

Anna Spector and Fiona Brook - Mkombozi, 2012

Executive Summary

L’UNICEF appelle le Burundi à accélérer ses efforts en faveur de la protection des enfants

UNICEF, 27 Nov 2011

Cet article fournit un aperçu utile des initiatives du Burundi dans le domaine de la protection des enfants, y compris le travail pour élaborer des normes minimales pour les établissements de garde d'enfants et de soutenir les enfants vivant dans

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Institutionalised childhood and adolescence: Making serious Human Rights violations visible.

Matilde Luna - RELAF, 01 Aug 2011

This paper, produced by RELAF, is part of a series of publications on children without parental care in Latin America: Contexts, causes and answers. This document, and others in the series, pertains to the broad topic of children without parental care and examines the particular situation of institutionalised children.

State of the World's Street Children: Research

Consortium for Street Children , 08 Jul 2011

This report presents a unique Literature Review of international research studies about street children published during the decade from 2000 to 2010.