PRAY FOR STREET KIDS

STREET KIDS – THE DEFINITION

UNICEF has defined three types of street children: Street-Living, Street-Working, Street-Family.

1. Street Living Children: children who ran away from their families and live alone on the streets and work in the streets and markets of cities selling or begging and sleep in the streets, lacking any contact with their families
2. Street Working Children: children who spend most of their time on the streets, fending for themselves, but returning home on a regular basis.
3. Children from Street Families: children who live on the streets with their families.

STREET KIDS – THE REALITY

The phenomenon of street children is global, alarming and escalating. No country and virtually no city anywhere in the world today is without the presence of street children. It is a problem of both developed and developing countries, but is more prevalent in the poor nations of Latin America, Asia and Africa. Poverty, family disintegration due to health or death, neglect, abuse or abandonment, and social unrest are all common triggers for a child's life on the streets.

Murder, consistent abuse and inhumane treatment are the “norm” for these children, whose ages range from six to 18. They often resort to petty theft and prostitution for survival. They are extremely vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

An estimated 90% of them are addicted to inhalants such as shoe glue and paint thinner, which cause kidney failure, irreversible brain damage and, in some cases, death

STREET KIDS - Worldwide

At least 100 million children worldwide are believed to live at least part of the time on the streets. . . These street children are first and foremost working children. (UNICEF, 29 March 1994)

STREET KIDS – AROUND THE WORLD

Africa

Children now make up half of the population of Africa. Many in urban areas are reduced to living on the streets, surviving through begging, theft and violence. (FEBA Radio Publication)

Bangladesh

There are 10,000 street girls living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (World Vision International, 1993)

Belgium

Belgium has 4,000 homeless children (in the charge of homeless parents). (Council of Europe)

Bolivia

In BOLIVIA there are 1,500 to 2,000 children living and sleeping in the streets. (Bolivian Government, Census Figures, 1992)

Brazil

Homeless children in Brazil number around 12 million. (Action International Ministries)

Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia has about 5,000 to 10,000 street children. (World Vision International, 1993)

Central America

It is estimated that there are at least 40 million street children in Latin America. Many are victims of abuse, sometimes murder, by police, other authorities and individuals who are supposed to protect them. (Casa Alianza Organization)

Colombia

5,000 to 9,000 children live on the streets of Bogota, Colombia. (Action International Ministries)

France

France has about 10,000 street children. (Council of Europe)

Ireland

Ireland has 500 to 1,000 street children. (Council of Europe)

Mexico

Mexico City has 1,900,000 underprivileged and street children. 240,000 of these are abandoned children. (Action International Ministries)

In the central area of Mexico City there are 11,172 street children. 1,020 live in the street and 10,152 work there. (City of Mexico/Fideicomiso, Report, 1991)

Netherlands

Street children in the Netherlands number some 7,000. (Council of Europe)

Peru

Up to 10,000 street and underprivileged children die in Lima, Peru every year. (Kids Alive Ministry)

Philippines

There are 50,000 to 70,000 street children in Manila. (Action International Ministries)

There are an estimated 1,200,000 street children in the Philippines. (Report of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (1991) from Jubilee Action, 1992)

It is estimated that there are 1.5 million street children working as pickpockets, beggars, drug traffickers and prostitutes. (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT))

Romania

A survey funded by the European Union found around 1,500 children living on the streets of Bucharest. More than 50% were aged between 12 and 15 and 83% of them were boys. Almost 40% had been on the streets for three or more years and 30% were permanently stoned on solvents, while another 25% used them occasionally. ("The Independent", 8 July 1996)

Russia

In MOSCOW 5,000 children and young people are abandoned on the streets every year. (BBC1 News, 12 October 1994)

Turkey

There are 6,000 to 7,000 street children in Istanbul, Turkey. (Council of Europe)

United Kingdom

According to a 'Crisis' report half of the beggars on our streets spent their childhood in care and a quarter slept on the streets before they were 16. ("IDEA" Magazine of the Evangelical Alliance, January 1995)

Nearly 100,000 young people go missing in Britain each year. (The Children's Society, "Young runaways", 1989)

Vast numbers of children in the United Kingdom run away from home and 156,000 young people are homeless in Britain every year. (according to Shelter)

United States of America

In the United States there is a crisis situation and Federal Government revealed that there are about 500,000 under-age runaways and 'throw-aways'. ("New York Times", 5 February 1990)