Working with street children

A street child is any child that works and/or lives on the streets. Often highly mobile, street children can alternate between living on the streets and living with their families. Children who work on the streets may become involved in scavenging, begging, hawking, prostitution or theft to aid their survival. Some may only work on the streets during particular periods of the year and attend school at other times. This makes it extremely difficult the to estimate the total number of street children.

Plan's response

Plan has a two pronged approach to working with street children:

1. Preventative work - by addressing the long term needs of poor families to improve household income and thereby ensure that no family is so poor that children are forced to work in an environment detrimental to their well-being.

2. Face to face work - with children already on the streets, Plan works to ensure these children have access to basic services and the means to improve their lives. We design projects for street children based on their priorities and with their participation.

Plan's work addressses both the reasons that force children to turn to the streets as a place to work or live, such as poverty, abuse or natural disaster, and the factors that make the street a more attractive alternative. In sub Saharan Africa, the dramatic increases in the number of children orphaned by AIDS and the subsequent strain on the extended family has resulted in many turning to the streets for their livelihood.