We do this through the provision of food, access to education, emotional support & health care. UNICEF, a United Nation agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children globally, has estimated that there are over 150 million children under the age of eighteen, who currently depend on the streets for their survival. According to the United Nation, a “street child is a
boy or a girl, for whom the street has become his or her abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults.”
Many street children end up in street situations due to a myriad of reasons such as neglect, displacement due to natural disasters or conflicts, family breakdown, parental death, abuse, sexual orientation, religious practices, female ge***al mutilation and more. Whilst on the streets, many of these children are subjected to further abuse, police brutality, exploitation, abduction, r**e, drug/substance dependency (often as a coping mechanism or to starve off hunger), human trafficking and sadly even murder. Our vision here at Our Street Child is to create networks and ‘Hubs’ across various world cities which provide food, shelter, access to education, emotional support, health care, a sense of belonging and a safe and nurturing community to flourish in. We envision a world where street children’s rights are protected enabling them to have the ‘hope’ and ‘future’ that all children deserve. The ‘Our’ in Our Street Child denotes the collective responsibility we hope we will all assume in making the lives of street children brighter & safer; and their voices heard. The vision behind Our Street Child is of a world in which every child has dignity and opportunity, and no child has to live on or make a living on the streets.
