Children in street situations

Terre des hommes (Tdh) is active in the issue of children living in street situations because these children have had their most basic rights disregarded and are especially vulnerable to all sorts of phenomena likely to endanger their life, their survival and their development. These include child-labour exploitation, child trafficking, sexual abuse and exploitation, involvement in drug trafficking, involvement in armed conflict, involvement in suicide attacks, drug abuse and participation in criminal activities. All the situations are likely to endanger the child or even bring about the child’s death.
Tdh recognises that children in street situations, as a result of their life experiences and independence, need specific strategies to reintegrate them socially. To this end, such strategies must respond to their need for affection, protection, care and education and must be appropriate to the realities that they have experienced and come to accept. Children in street situation are therefore one of the Terre des hommes Foundation’s priority targets for intervention.This policy paper – after defining who these children are – discusses Terre des hommes’ approach in working with these children and their families and the communities