Transcript Promotion and Protection of children in street situation Program Experiences from Plan International, Egypt Mohamed Tag.

Promotion and
Protection of
children in street
situation
Program Experiences from
Plan International, Egypt
Mohamed Tag
Children in
street
situation in
Egypt
How many? Not
known, between
100,000 and 2
million
Mostly in Cairo
and Alexandria
Official statistics
show that
numbers are
increasing
Why children are on the
streets?
Direct Causes (in order of frequency)
 Child abuse in the family or school
 Neglect
 Peer pressure
 Sensation seeking
 Older brother or sister on the street
Indirect Causes (in order of frequency)
 Low income of the family
 Low educational level of the family
 Family breakdown
 Poor quality school
 Large family size
 Unplanned rural-urban migration
 The declining role of the
extended family
Girls are also on the
streets…
 Majority between 12 to 16
years old.
 1 out of 4 children are girls .
 Girls face more adverse
circumstances than boys.
 Pregnant girls and young
street mothers are particularly
vulnerable (no access to health
and rehabilitation services)
 Babies born on the streets are
at high risk of death,
abandonment and kidnapping.
Plan program in Egypt
 The initiative started in 2006.
 Since 2009, 3159 children
supported by the program (2437
boys and 722 girls)
 600 cases reintegrated to their
families
 120 cases recruitment in factories
and living on separate apartments
 Partners: 7 local organizations,
Caritas International, National
Council for Childhood and
Motherhood and Minister Social
Solidarity
 Plan as a member of the National
Network and Child Protection
Network, with a sub-group on
children living on the streets.
Plan able to provide 24 birth
registration for young mother’s
babies in street situation
Overall objective
of the program
Promote solidarity in
communities by
mobilizing collective
efforts and resources
that enable street
children to be
protected and promote
their rights and
support.
Four Pillars of the Program
Prevention
Protection
Rehabilitation
Strategic Interventions
1. Awareness
2. Empowerment and Capacity Building
3. Partnership and networking
4. Advocacy
5. Increasing access to rights
Integration
Pillar 1: Prevention and early detection
The main component is about working with families and community
members to raise awareness about the situation of children living on
the streets, as well as working with key people (police, doctors,
community leaders). The poorest families are supported with
interventions for economic development. Such as savings groups and
vocational training.
Pillar 2: Protection
It seeks to protect
children in street
situation from all forms
of violence, exploitation
and abuse, whether on
the street or shelters
and workshops. Social
workers are trained on
child protection policy
and reporting
mechanisms.
Pillar 3: Rehabilitation
Rehabilitate the child to be ready
to become a full citizen and
integrate back into the community.
It has different components:
psychosocial, literacy program,
vocational training, recreational
and art activities, hygiene and
personal appearance, health
program including keeping away
from diseases, etc.
Individual family research to
understand the main reasons why
the child is on the street and
reintegration plan.
Mobile units
 Health service
 Legal services
 Outreach for shelters and other programs
Reception Centers
Temporary Care Centers







Accommodation for a short period
Health Care
Nutrition
Literacy Classes
Social & Economical Care
Vocational Training
Recreation
Permanent Care Centers
 Permanent Shelter until Military
age
 Social and economical follow up
with the family.
 Medical Care
 Nutrition
 Education: all stages
 Psychological and Social Care
 Vocational Training
 Recreation
Pillar 4: Reintegration
Reintegration in the community is the ultimate goal. It may happen
inside the family or other accommodation opportunities. The
children have access to equal opportunities with their peers in
health care, education, entertainment, training and employment
opportunities and to participate actively in the social life of their
community
EFFORTS AT NATIONAL LEVEL
National Strategy for the
Protection and
Rehabilitation of children
in street situation (2003):
 Change negative attitudes
of the society towards
children in street situation
 Consider children in street
situation as victims not
criminals
 Build the capacity of the
personnel working in the field
 Establish a data base
 Mobilise financial resources
Child Law Amendments
2010
 Defines children at risk
 The right to free birth
registration
 The right for a mother to
register her child at birth
and to issue her child a
birth certificate with only the
mother’s name.
 Child Protection
Committees
 Reform of the Juvenile
System to become Child
Protection System
National Network for Street
Children (six months ago)
 Strengthen cooperation of all
partners in the areas of finance,
resources, databases, literature,
surveys, training and education.
 Programs to achieve better
services for children and their
families.
 Setting up pressure groups to
advocate for National strategy
on issues affecting children in
street situation
 Activate the child protection
policies within the bodies and
organizations dealing with
children.
 Put a strong and unified
system for child protection
Impact of the 25th Jan revolution on children in street
situation
Active role during the revolution:
with the protesters (provided food
and camaraderie) or proMubarak (they got paid))
Some saw Tahrir as an
opportunity for real change, they
helped in cleaning
“Children in street situation talked about anticipating how the
government will change and someone will pick them up
and send them to school,” said Mossallam. “They want to
talk about how good it felt to see police
stations burning - it was a catharsis for them.”
Impact of the 25th Jan revolution on children in street
situation.
Number of children on the streets is higher, because there
are less policemen, they feel there is more “freedom”
They get more involved into illegal activities, because
criminality is also increasing, and they get frequently “used” by
others.
All the mechanism established by law to protect children on
street situation are not working, such as the Child Protection
Committees.
NGOs have many problems because of the situation in the
government: delays in approvals to start new projects,
limitation in mobilizing funds from abroad, etc.
Lessons learned
 Build a strong relationship with
children in street situation before
even start working with them.
 Not all children in street situation
accept “our solutions”, sometimes
we have to keep modifing our plans
to adapt to their needs.
 Working with young mothers in
street situation is much more
challenging and difficult than
working with boys. Our approach
needs to support the mother and the
baby too.
 Train professional psychologist to
be able to work with children in
street situation.
Lessons learned (cont.)
 The NGO partners’ capacity to coordinate with communities and
other stakeholders is very important to raise awareness about the
role that everybody places in integrating children in street situation.
The use of participatory techniques rather than lecturing has a
greater impact on influencing the behavior of children in street
situation.
The participation of community members,
government officials and private sector in planning
the program contributed significantly to the
success of the implementation and its continuity.
 Communities and the society as a whole play a
key role in re-integrating children in street situation:
accept them as a way of increasing their
confidence and willingness to improve.
Challenges
 The negative attitudes of the
society towards children in street
situation.
 Shortage in specialized
personnel and NGOs too.
 Weak interest from concerned
parties (Government, local
organizations, police…) and
media
 For some local NGOs lack of
financial resources.
 NGOs focus more on
rehabilitation activities and less on
re-integration and income
generating activities
To the international community: to develop
guidelines addressing non-discrimination
and children working and/or living on the
street in order to formally recognize these
children’s vulnerability as a particular group
and to provide more detailed guidance on
how to develop integral protection systems
that suit their needs
 At national level, governments should be
called upon to implement sustainable, propoor poverty reduction and child sensitive
social protection programs, with a focus on
marginalized groups and urban renewal
programs that recognize the right of street
dwellers to shelter..
 Strong and active networking among
NGOs, as well as key government
institutions and other stakeholders to press
together for relevant advocacy issues.
Recommendation
s
 Organizations need to work
together to review government
legislation and policies that impact
on street involved children.
 Civil society organizations need to
support community responses to
child protection and children’s
participation, and facilitate their
linkage with national child protection
systems.
 All actors within these systems
(police, judiciary, health staff and
social workers) need to be trained
on the rights of children in street
situation.
 The situation of street involved
children should be monitored to
support the development and
implementation of national
strategies and plans of action for the
realization of their rights.
 Raise the capacity of NGOs working with
street children in the area of advocacy and
lobbying of policy makers and politicians.
 Implement coordinated programs that help
to facilitate the work of NGOs.
 Build the sense of responsibility and
capacity of families and communities to
care and protect all children
 Activate the mechanisms established by
law such as the child protection committees.
 To strengthen international commitment,
cooperation and mutual assistance in
preventing and protecting children in street
situation.
 National child protection and child welfare
systems are needed, and should be
adequately funded to operate effectively.