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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Social protection mechanisms for children living on the streets: Perspectives from Uganda

Robert Kakuru, Archangel Byaruhanga Rukooko and Gervase Tusabe - Journal of African Studies and Development, 11 Dec 2018

This study sought to examine social protection mechanisms for children living on the streets of Uganda, a case study of Kampala.

Family Resilience Project in Uganda

AVSI USA, 19 Nov 2018

This video presents the work of the FARE family strengthening program in Uganda to prevent separation of families and reintegrate children who are separated from their families, including the story of one young person and his family who were impacted by the program.

Country Care Review: South Africa

Better Care Network, 23 Oct 2018

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Country Care Review: Philippines

Better Care Network , 16 Oct 2018

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Effective Interventions with Street-Connected Children: Lessons Learned in Kisumu, Kenya & Recommendations for the Future

Kisumu Street Children Rehabilitation Consortium, 11 Oct 2018

The purpose of this report is to share with local and national governmental leaders about Kisumu’s successes in significantly reducing the street population within the city and to inform others of the successful (and unsuccessful) interventions deployed in order to achieve these results.

Building the Resilience of Street Children and Youths in Cameroon

Walters Mudoh Sanji - Resilience and the Re-integration of Street Children and Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, 30 Sep 2018

This chapter from the book Resilience and the Re-integration of Street Children and Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa is comprised of two studies. The first study provides an analysis of the psychological situation of street children and youth in Yaoundé and Douala, while the second one deals with resilience building within a rehabilitation home.

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Sexual and physical abuse and its determinants among street children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2016

Ayana Chimdessa & Amsale Cheire - BMC Pediatrics, 19 Sep 2018

The purpose of this study is to point out the experience of sexual and physical exploitation and its determinant factors among street children in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.

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Adverse childhood experiences and adjustment: A longitudinal study of street-involved youth in Brazil

Marcela Raffaelli, Juliana Prates Santana, Normanda Araujo de Morais, Carlos J. Nieto, Silvia H. Koller - Child Abuse & Neglect, 28 Aug 2018

The current longitudinal study examined the prevalence, overlap, and impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a sample of Brazilian children and adolescents who use city streets as spaces for socialization and survival (i.e., street-involved youth).

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Life Experiences of Children Living on Streets in Kenya: from the Pot into the Fire

Emily Chepngetich Sitienei & Jace Pillay - Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 20 Aug 2018

This qualitative study explored life experiences of children living on the streets in Eldoret, Kenya.

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Drug Abuse Among Street Children

Yahya Muhammed Bah - Mathews Journal of Case Reports, 27 Jul 2018

This study sought to determine the risk and prevalence of drug abuse among street children focusing on those in the car parks in the Gambia.

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