International Day for Street Children by Consortium for Street Children / Street Action 8:10am 12th Apr, 2011   12 April 2011    The International Day for Street Children: Louder Together is launched on 12th April, a new campaign to give a louder voice to the millions of street children all around the world so their rights cannot be ignored.    Governments need to listen. We want to help make this happen. We must give street children a voice. Together we are louder and have more impact so we are asking everyone to Raise your Voices for Street Children.    The International Day is being celebrated across the globe: by street children in Morocco, Uganda, Ethiopia, Guatemala and India; school children in the UK; students in Ireland; the Consortium for Street Children and its 60 members in over 130 countries; Aviva in the 28 countries in which it operates; and by politicians in Tanzania and the UK.    All countries have signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (other than the USA and Somalia) and have a legal obligation to work towards ensuring that all children’s rights are integrated into national law.    The Convention sets out every child’s right to protection, participation, provision and prevention from harm. It is universally recognised that all children should have these rights realised; however many government policies and practices still do not include street children.    The International Day is supported by Aviva, the world’s sixth largest insurance group, as part of their global Street to School programme which aims to help 500,000 street children get back into education or training over the next five years.    Statements of support    The international Day for Street Children aims to give a voice to some of the most disadvantaged and invisible children of this world. The Consortium for Street Children brings together 60 charities who work on behalf of these children.    Together, through raising awareness and recognition of this worldwide issue we can put pressure on policy makers and create an environment in which street children’s rights are realised – their voices are heard and they are supported by government policy and practice. Sally Shire, CEO, Consortium for Street Children    Filming Slumdog Millionaire opened my eyes to the horrendous conditions that street children in India are forced to endure on a day to day basis – an unimaginable mix of poverty, hardship, cruelty and abuse. These children need a voice and need to be heard by the international community I urge everyone to pledge their support. Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire director    Working closely with disadvantaged children has made me realise that kids aren’t just on the streets in other countries but are suffering right here in the UK. These kids deserve the same opportunities that most of us take for granted and I hope everybody will support them. Steven Gerrard, England International and Liverpool Captain    At Aviva, we believe all children should have the chance to fulfil their potential in life. We believe we can make a difference by using our global scale to act as a catalyst for change. That’s why we’ve established our Aviva Street to School programme, through which we work with on-the-ground charities across the world to help street children back into education or training.    I hope that the first International Day for Street Children awakens many more people to this issue, so children across the world can get the chance in life they so richly deserve. Andrew Moss, Group Chief Executive, Aviva    Street children are among the most vulnerable and excluded in society as their rights are continually violated. I am standing up for street children’s rights with people across the world. By working together we can change the lives of street children for the better. Bianca Jagger, Founder and Chair, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador    In my capacity as UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, I am honored to lend my voice of support to the International Day for Street Children.    I particularly support this campaign’s focus on child participation. Children – particularly street children - are not merely victims, but are subjects of rights. They have the right to be heard, and are vectors of proposals on how to improve the situation of children around the world. Najat Maalla M’Jid, UN Special Rapporteur on Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography    All children have the right to grow up healthy, happy and safe; to enjoy education, and develop to their full potential; to be respected in dignity and worth; to feel supported in addressing the unknown, and nurtured in a strong sense of belonging.    These are universal values all nations have committed to respect but they tend to fade away when the situation of children living or working in the street is at stake. Then, stigma, indifference, invisibility and fear, routinely prevail.    This International Day is an extraordinary opportunity to reverse this pattern, and to launch an era where the fulfilment of the rights of street children, and their effective protection from violence, can define their universe. Being louder together, we will make it happen! Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children    Why International Day for Street Children matters, by Joe Walker. (Street Action)    We have an opportunity to send a message to governments, the UN and the donor community that an extremely vulnerable group of children needs to be included in their policy priorities.    The first International Day for Street Children aims to give the millions of street children all around the world a voice. We hope this will draw attention to an issue that has largely been ignored by governments, the development sector and civil society, and that it can also form an important part in developing a political discourse around it.    The definition of a "street child" has been an issue of contested debate for decades, along with estimates for the number of them globally. Exact figures are impossible to quantify, but a Unicef report in 2006 put street children numbers in the tens of millions or higher. What is clear is that these children are extremely vulnerable, and at risk from sexual abuse and exploitation, substance abuse and deprivation.    Last month the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva held discussions on the situation of children living on the streets. Part of the conclusions from the day were specific calls to actions – to listen to street children, adopt integrated approaches, and share good practice. The critical point is how these recommendations will be implemented and whether there really is a desire to do so.    If the International Day for Street Children is an opportunity to send a message to governments, the UN and the donor community that street children need to be included, there are two key points that need to be considered. We have to go back to the question of why street children remain excluded from policy priorities and programming, and must define the changes that need to take place.    Child rights have come to form an explicit aspect of the human rights agenda, outlining why children should be protected from political, economic and social hazards. Street children often remain excluded from policy priorities. Practitioners recognise that these children are a difficult group to conceptualise on a global scale, which results in a limited capacity to inform policy-makers and practitioners.    Too many policies and interventions fail to take into account children''s own views, and therefore fail to address the holistic context in which street children live and experience their vulnerability.    The International Day for Street Children is launched at a time when global attention is focused on the 2015 target for the millennium development goals. Unless governments, NGOs and policy-makers put the right to care and protection of children alongside the right to survival, health and education, millions of children''s lives will be put at risk. Among these will be street children, who remain marginalised and extremely vulnerable.    However, the real agents of change will not come from UN council resolutions or NGO policy reports but from the local practitioners, activists and former and current street children. I recently co-authored a report entitled Including Street Children. Central to the analysis and recommendations in the report is that street children hold vital knowledge around their experiences and are therefore the greatest agents of change and best resource to understanding the issue.    Change needs to be harnessed by those who are the recipients of decades of neglect and injustice – and encounter the arrogance of those who believe they know best.    I believe that partnerships between NGOs in the global north, greater co-operation and collaboration, and – most important – empowering those in the south to drive the agenda is critical to see fundamental and constructive change. Our part is to partner and work with those on the ground, to help provide guidance for constructive and meaningful responses that might prevent the repetition of mistakes and misguided actions we have all experienced.    The International Day of Street Children is an important opportunity to raise awareness of the plight of these children around the globe, and it should be supported. Street children have been discriminated against for too long, and we have an opportunity to change this if we listen to them and those working with them, and adopt integrated approaches to tackle their needs and to share good practice.    If street children and those working with them are not seen as the driving force in this process, then the change we all hope for will be a long time coming. Let''s hope that today will see the beginning of that change.    • Joe Walker is director of the UK-based NGO Street Action, which works with partners in Burundi, Kenya and South Africa. Visit the related web page
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