The Right to Shelter

Simple measures like helping street children with birth registration, which allows them to be counted, gives them legal personhood and qualifies them for social, health and legal services, are critical to reaching this vulnerable and largely invisible population Street children are exposed to all manner of diseases, including HIV and STDs Medical care is an essential first step Since police are the ones most likely to encounter children on the street, police officers need much better training to equip them to respond. Street sweeps that dump children into remote warehouse/jail facilities do nothing but hide the problem, while violating the civil rights of street children and deepening their trauma Instead, shelter and education programs that can help street children make up for time lost and equip them to earn a stable living must be set up and funded consistently Alongside practical measures to reduce poverty and reinforce struggling families, a social transformation is needed to reverse the corrosive effects of exclusion and contempt, in other words, respect for the humanity and potential of children in street situations, respect for their rights

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