Day of the African Child: Raising awareness about street children

Street girls in Dhaka, Bangladesh

The 16th Day of the African Child, celebrated every June 16, this year is designated to raise awareness for the plight of street children across Africa. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child urges action by all partners and governments to address the growing epidemic of street children.

Street children are any girl or boy who has yet to reach adulthood who seeks a livelihood or residence in the street. The demographic is growing globally, with an estimated 120 million or 1 in 5 children turning to the street.  One quarter of the total - 45 million - are in Africa; the majority of those boys.

“If I had a choice, I would go to school like other kids my age, but then what would my brothers and sisters eat,” 15-year old Senegalese boy who drives a cart to support his family. This boy’s story is too often heard, he is a member of a lost African generation without education or vocational training. Both a symptom and a cause of poverty, street children put a face to massive human rights violations daily.

Improving the lives of street children

For more than 70 years, Plan has been working to improve the lives of children so they do not have to seek refuge in the street. Plan raises awareness of child rights by working with communities to improve education and health while creating an environment free from violence and exploitation in which children can participate. The end result is a community where children feel safe and go to school; there is no need to seek refuge in the street.

Children leave their homes and communities and turn to the streets for many reasons. Plan commissioned a study on street children. The study was designed to inform programs to increase outreach to street children. The findings and recommendations include:

• Develop children as the main actors in realising the rights of street involved children through their active participation and building their capacity to protect themselves.
• National child protection and child welfare systems that are sensitive to the rights of street children to care and protection are needed, and should be adequately funded to operate effectively.
• Organisations working in rural areas on issues of childhood migration need to link with those working in urban areas on childhood safety, to reduce the levels of vulnerability that arise with mobility.
• Specialist agencies working with a particular focus on street involved children, or children without parental care, need to collaborate with generalist child focused organisations to ensure that their issues are included in broader agendas.
  

The key role of birth registration

Street children are some of the most excluded in our societies. Often without carers, they can be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse – such as rape, kidnap, or being used for illegal and hazardous work.

But having a birth certificate means they have a legal identity, which makes them visible to the authorities who must take responsibility for providing education, health and protective services.

Read children's stories to mark the Day of the African Child