STREET CHILDREN A GROWING AND GLOBAL EPIDEMIC

ACCORDING TO UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S EMERGENCY FUND (UNICEF) THE MOST COMMON DEFINITION OF A STREET CHILD IS “ANY GIRL OR BOY WHO HAS NOT REACHED ADULTHOOD, FOR WHOM THE STREET (IN THE BROADEST SENSE OF THE WORD, INCLUDING UNOCCUPIED DWELLINGS, WASTELAND, ETC.) HAS BECOME HER OR HIS HABITUAL ABODE AND/OR SOURCES OF LIVELIHOOD, AND WHO IS INADEQUATELY PROTECTED, SUPERVISED OR DIRECTED BY RESPONSIBLE ADULTS (P 90).”

THE EPIDEMIC OF STREET CHILDREN IS A GLOBAL ISSUE

• Global urbanization is attributed to growing numbers of homeless children

• Many children leave their homes in smaller towns to work in larger cities

• Estimations on how many children are living on the street is between 10 million and 100 million globally

• Street children move frequently and are often reluctant of adults so information on the children is limited

• Poverty, violence, lack of family support, and hunger are some of the main reasons children choose to move to the street

• Street children are typically between the ages of 6 and 17 years old and live without adult support

• Africa, Asia and Latin America have the highest number of street children

• Almost all countries have children who are homeless and living in the streets

GLOBAL URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION ARE ADDING TO PROBLEM OF STREET CHILDREN

STREET CHILDREN CAN FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES: EITHER CHILDREN OF THE STREET, MEANING THEY ARE HOMELESS AND HAVE LITTLE OR NO CONTACT WITH THEIR FAMILIES, OR CHILDREN ON THE STREET, MEANING THEY SLEEP MOST NIGHTS IN THEIR HOMES BUT WORK AND SPEND MOST OF THEIR DAYS ON THE STREETS (EDWARDS, HARRIS, JOHNSON & YOUNG, P. 724, 2011).

CHILDREN OF THE STREET AND CHILDREN ON THE STREET

EFFECTS ON CHILDREN FROM LIVING IN THE STREET

EFFECTS ON CHILDREN WHO LIVE IN THE STREET

GOVERNMENTS REACTIONS TO STREET CHILDREN

HOW ARE LOCAL, STATE AND GLOBAL GOVERNMENTS ADDRESSING THE ISSUE?

ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE HELPING

EFFECTS ON HUMAN SERVICES

REFERENCES

Street Children in Peru (2008). Retrieved from: http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/index_files/image002.jpg

Street children sleeping on sidewalk, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1993). Retrieved from: http://callisto.ggsrv.com/imgsrv/FastFetch/UBER1/elac_0002_0002_0_img0115

Activist’s Journey To Life: Day 386 (2013). Retrieved from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FLUwfCaguvc/UcNZZhxwgVI/AAAAAAAADus/Erp_n7I0zZY/s1600/kolkatas-street-kids.jpg

Street Children Learn on the Streets of Bangladesh (2012). Retrieved from: http://static2.demotix.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/a_scale_large/1600-6/photos/1354463740-street-children-learn-on-the-streets-of-bangladesh_1650606.jpg

MSF opens day centre for Moscow street children (2004). Retrieved from: http://www.msf.org/sites/msf.org/files/old-cms/fms/article-images/2004-00/5929.jpg