About us

Who we are

We are a global alliance who act as the voice of street children to promote good practice, challenge and change the systems that cause harm.

We create powerful links between organisations, activists and policy makers around the world who are addressing the needs and rights of street children, providing advocacy, capacity building, shared learning and research.

Street children are children who depend on the streets for their survival – whether they live on the streets, work on the streets, have support networks on the streets, or a combination of the three.

We want to change the world for street children by:

  1. Ensuring they have the same access to services, resources, care and opportunities that other children have
  2. Amplifying street children’s voices so they can make their views known
  3. Putting an end to the discrimination street-connected children around the world face on a daily basis

How we have grown

We were launched at 10 Downing Street on November 18th, 1993. Since they we have grown from a small fledgling organisation to a force to be reckoned with.

Today we are a powerful, innovative and expert network of 200+ community organisations, national and international non-governmental organisations, researchers, advocates and on-the-ground practitioners working across 111 countries.

We set our 5 year strategy towards a world where street children’s rights are respected, the same as they are for every other child, in 2024.

1. To transform street-connected children’s experience of the streets now, so that they are safer, with better access to services and a sense of belonging in their communities.

 

2. To close the gap between street-connected children’s rights and the reality of their lives, in the long term, by holding States to account for meeting their obligations to street-connected children, securing their rights

And our cross-cutting priority:

3. To ensure street-connected children are recognised as experts in their own lives and involved in decisions which affect them

Learn about inspirational former street children who have become our ambassadors.