Street Children

There are projected to be about 120 million children breathing on the streets in the world (30 million in Africa, 30 million in Asia, and 60 million in South America). Often sufferers of all kinds of abuse, these children still have rights…

 

What is a street child?

Street children are adolescents who live and endure on the streets. They often grow up in public landfills, train stations, our under the bridges of the world’s major cities. Because of conflicts with their family, these children don’t want to or can’t return home.

Why does a child live on the streets?

The distinctiveness of street children is complicated. The mixture of familial, economic, social, and political factors play an important role in their situation. It is therefore very difficult to single out one or more causes.

However, children who have been interrogated say that family, poverty, abuse, war, etc. are often why they left for the streets.

What are the problems met by street children?

Street children are challenged by a large number of difficulties. In fact, rising up in a situation generally regarded as hazardous, they incur substantial risks.

As a consequence, some of their rights are very often negotiated.

Right to Food

Street children often don’t have admittance to a healthy and adequate diet. Sometimes they don’t even have food, because breathing on the streets, they don’t harvest any and don’t have money to buy.

Also, these children don’t advantage from a balanced diet: they eat what they can find. Sometimes, when they have the choice, they even favor unwholesome foods such as ice cream, cakes, etc. and so run the risk of undernourishment. Growth problems are also common with these children.

Right to Health

The health of children rising up on the streets is strongly negotiated. In fact, they don’t have access to hygienic facilities: they are often dirty and verminous with fleas.

Also, because of their lack of hygiene, street children are exposed to different diseases. Their health is often worrying. Without a family to take care of them, these youth must take care of themselves.

Moreover, street children, to leakage their authenticity, often use cannabis, alcohol, or inhale natural gas. Unfortunately, these very hard living circumstances, have a negative impact not only on their physical and psycho social growth, but also on their cultural and economic development.

Right to Education

Street Children are evidently not educated. Because of this, they don’t have the same occasions as other children. In fact, because they don’t see a future for themselves, and because they have no specialized training, they are hindered from finding a job and from finally leaving the streets.

Seen as borderline, street youth are often victims of judgment. Generally, adults have preconceptions that brand them as “street children”. Consequently, they are often associated with the dangers of the streets. It is often difficult for these children to reintegrate into society.

What can be done to support street children?

The problem of street children is reliant on their condition and not on their status. In fact, each child has an individual history with the street that cannot be widespread. Because of this, the care of street children must, to be actual, pivot on the different situations on the streets, in other words, on the many “child profiles”. It is important to analyses the relationship a child has with the street.

In order to better comprehend children living and rising up on the streets, it is vital both to make them participate, and to put them in contact with key institutions or individuals looking to comprehend the structural causes of their situation.

Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1924

About the Declaration

In 1924, the League of Nations (LON) adopted the Geneva Declaration, a historic document that familiar and avowed for the first time the existence of rights specific to children and the accountability of adults towards children.

Origin of the first Declaration of the Rights of the Child

After observing the horror of World War I, Eglantyne Jebb realized that children need special protection.

In 1919, with the help of her sister, Dorothy Buxton, Jebb founded the Save the Children Fund in London to provide assistance to and protect children who have experienced war.

In 1920, with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Save the Children Fund was organized and structured around the International Save the Children Union.

On 23 February 1923, the International Save the Children Union adopted the first version of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child during its fourth general assembly. The draft was later ratified during the fifth general assembly, on 28 February 1924. Jebb sent this document to the League of Nations, saying that she believed “we should claim certain Rights for the children and labour for their universal recognition.”

On 26 September 1924, the League of Nations adopted the declaration and titled it the Geneva Declaration. It was a historic day—the first time specific rights for children were recognized.

Content of the Geneva Declaration

The 1924 Geneva Declaration stated that humanity “owes to the Child the best that it has to give.”

“In simple terms, (there is in fact no reference to rights as such) the Declaration points out adults’ obligations to children.”(1)

The fundamental needs of children were summarized in five points. The document discussed the well-being of children and recognized their right to development, assistance, relief and protection.

However, even though the document addressed certain fundamental rights, it was not legally binding.

In 1934, the General Assembly of the League of Nations once again approved the Geneva Declaration. The signatories promised to incorporate the principles of the document into their national laws, but they were not legally bound to do so.

Nonetheless, the Geneva Declaration remains the first international Human Rights document in history to specifically address children’s rights.

Understanding Children’s Rights

Right to Life

The right to life means that each child must be able to live his or her own life. Children have the right not to be killed. They have the right to survive and to grow up in proper conditions.

Right to Education

The right to education allows each child to receive instruction, to enjoy a social life, and to build his or her own future. This right is essential for economic, social and cultural development.

Right to Food

The right to food is the right of each child to eat. It is the right to not die of hunger and to not suffer from malnutrition. Every five seconds, a child dies of hunger somewhere in the world.

Right to Health

The right to health means that children must be protected against illness. They must be allowed to grow and become healthy adults. This contributes to developing an active society.

Right to Water

The right to water means children have the right to safe drinking water and proper sanitary conditions. The right to water is essential for good health, survival and proper growth.

Right to Identity

Each child has the right to have a surname, a first name, a nationality, and to know who his or her relatives are. The right to identity also means that each child’s existence and rights must be officially recognized.

Right to Freedom

The right to liberty is the child’s right to express him or herself, to have opinions, to have access to information, and to participate in decisions which affect his or her life. Children also have the right to religious freedom.

Right to Protection

The right to protection is the right to live in a secure and protective environment which preserves the child’s well-being. Each child has the right to be protected from all forms of mistreatment, discrimination, and exploitation.