Access to Health Care by Street Children in the Urban Context of N’djamena, Chad

Summary

Street children are one of the new categories of social actors resulting from the rapid urbanisation of cities of the South. Among the numerous problems they have to face daily, there are also obstacles related to disease and access to health care. This paper describes at the example of N’Djamena (Chad), their health problems as well as efforts to provide better health care through an action research approach. Results of activities for providing better health care to marginalised groups revealed the potential of an action research approach for (1) contesting the exclusion of street children and young adults by social work in their natural milieu (2) developing and identifying jointly community based answers to the situation, (3) acquisition and exchange of knowledge, and change / development at the micro- and meso-level. Activities showed also how collaboration, partnership and communication between street children and institutional actors may govern sustainable management of the urban environment in the South.