Currently, it's

Who is a street child?

Home

 Meet the project coordinator

The Youth Overhauled project

Have you ever thought who a street child is?
Introduction

Street children represent one of the most disadvantaged categories of vulnerable children.

A Street child can be defined as child who has not reached the age of adulthood but to whom the street or unoccupied dwelling has become his or her habitual place of abode and with no care and protection.

The existence of street children is directly related to a number of social problems which include poverty, urbanization (rural-urban migration), armed conflicts, the social problems resulting from AIDS pandemic, lack of basic education and life skills and the break down of extended family life systems, community values and traditional social and economic structures. Though we believe is escalating, there is lack of comparable surveys and figures documenting this increase.

The street children are not a homogenous group, but consist of individuals in different backgrounds and difficulties, such as orphans, children from very poor families, abused or rejected children and run always. What they have in common are that they are spending most of their daily life on street and are
either partly or fully making their living on street. Street children are also characterized by lack of child guidance, a care and protection.

Children on the street could be grouped into two broad categories:

1. Full time street children: Are those without contact with their family who spend day and night on streets and verandas and actually view street as their home.

2. Part time street children: Are those working on the streets but living at home such as school dropouts and children sex workers.

These categories are transitional for instance, children may be temporary forced to help the family earn a living or cater for themselves. Most of the m come form families living in difficult circumstances.

Main objectives of efforts to address street children problem in Uganda have been and still are:

 * To prevent children form coming to the streets.

 * To rehabilitate and reintegrate children on the streets into
   mainstream society.

Article by Kibuli Senior Secondary School through the project co-ordinator, Musinguzi Emanuel.

 

  Page designed by Ssegawa Meddy and the participants of the Education for the street child project.

"Street children, whose responsibility?"

Last Updated in February 2004.

This website is still under construction, please pay us a visit again.