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International Day for Street Children 2019

Published 05/03/2019 By Jess Clark

On April 12th, children, NGOs and individuals around the world joined the CSC Network to celebrate the International Day for Street Children. This years theme was #CommitToEquality and we were asking governments to recognise that street children have the same rights as every other child and to reflect it in the laws and policies in their country. This follows from the launch of our ‘4 Steps to Equality’ campaign, which sets out the steps that governments need to take to make sure they are meeting their legal obligations to street children and giving them the support and services that they are entitled to. There were some fantastic celebrations, and we’ve included just a handful below. To see more follow our Twitter feed @streetchildren

In Tanzania, street children joined Railway Children Africa in a march to the District Commissioner’s offices, where street children representatives spoke out.

In Uganda S.A.L.V.E International published their annual News From The Streets newspaper, written by current and former street children in Jinja on this years theme.

In Bangladesh, the Dhaka Ahsania Mission marched with street children holding banners and drawings, to highlight the fact that Bangladesh’s Social Safety Net has to be expanded to include street children.

The Local Education and Economic Development Organization (LEEDO) met with the children at Sadarghat in Bangladesh, and made banners for a rally that 30 children attended, asking for the government to recognise that all children should be given the same rights, including street children.

Also in Uganda, Dwelling Places and Save Street Children Uganda marched with Miss Uganda, Miss World Africa and street children who help up signs saying:

“We are the future”

“Schools not streets”

“Street is not my choice”

Bahay Tuluyan in the Philippines held a Street Children’s Congress in February where street-connected children learned about children’s right issues and shared their stories using various art form, leading up to a dialogue on IDSC.

CHETNA in India organised ‘Street Talk’, live talks with 10 street-connected children and an audience of 300 people around the world who listened to them speak about the issues facing them. There was also a bicycle rally and an event organised with the local police to raise awareness on the day.

Please get in touch if you would like to enquire about joining our network, offer comment or get involved in our work: info@streetchildren.org