Children Living and Working on the Streets in Lebanon: Profile and magnitude

In November 2013, Lebanon pledged to eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2016, through the enactment of a national action plan. As part of efforts to support this plan, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and Save the Children International (SCI) commissioned this study, upon the request of Lebanon’s Ministry of Labour (MOL). The study’s main purpose is to assess the magnitude and profile of children living and working on the streets – also known as street-based children (SBC) – as well as formulate evidence-based and actionable policy recommendations.

The recommendations of this study are targeted at government, civil society, international agencies as well as local non-governmental organizations (NGO) and focus on four key pillars:

• enforce relevant legislation;
• reintegrate SBC into education and provide basic services;
• intervene at the household-level to conduct prevention activities; and
• improve coordination and collaboration.