Resolution 1994 CHR Res.
1994/93
Main Subject

The plight of street children
2011 HRC Res. A/HRC/16/12

A holistic, rights-based and gendersensitive approach to the protection and
Summary of Changes
Identified
Shift from reducing suffering to a
‘whole child’ approach, promotion of the rights of children working and/or living on the street considering nested
International

Convention on the environments within which to protect children’s rights
Stronger legal basis with more law and national legal provisions
Policies and
Rights of the Child

CHR Resolution
1993/81

Vienna 1993
Declaration
A/Conf.157/23

Encourages ratification of CRC

Prevent killings,

CRC and its Optional Protocols
 All resolutions on children’s rights of
CHR, HRC and General Assembly,

ILO Convention 182

Encourages withdrawal of reservations

New call Art. 4 urging states to improve legal protection and end criminalization of survival activities

Recognition of Millennium Development instruments, mechanisms and policy documents to protect all children’s rights. New detail on legal protection: priority legislation & plans of action; prosecutions & sanctions; protection v. arrests; access to child-friendly justice
Stronger links to international interventions torture and violence

Call for comprehensive solutions to problems of street development goals.
More emphasis on views of children and their best interests
Stronger detail on prevention including: birth registration;
Children - numbers, characteristics, experiences and data collection children

Call for measures to restore full participation in society

Recognition of growing numbers and squalid conditions

Particular concern with violence, serious crime, drug abuse, violence and prostitution
Goals
 New call for children’s participation in decisions that affect them via expression of views

New call for Prevention by addressing diverse causes

New call for public sensitization of children’s situations

New call for family reintegration or alternative care in best interests of child with support for family or caregivers’ capacities

New call to address health risks

Recognition that situations are still critical

New recognition of girls' presence on street

New detail on diversity of adverse street experiences and of causal factors

New encouragement for national systems for reliable, in-depth, poverty eradication; education; protection & service access; support for family & care-giver capacities
More detailed focus on provision of care and health services
Shift away from numbers and situations towards more nuanced understandings of diversity of causes, characteristics and experiences.
New calls for research and systematic data collection, monitoring and evaluation systems
Focus on children’s rights

Guarantees for right to life

Health, shelter and disaggregated data collection, monitoring and evaluation

New invitation for global study

New references to discrimination & stigmatization

New references to right to family
Widening from service provision and legal enforcement to social inclusion and full enjoyment of education, adequate standard of living, environment and that child's best interests be the guiding principle of all rights
Stakeholder roles freedom from violence and harassment

Recognition of families and communities in national efforts

Calls for international and inter-institutional cooperation

Calls on Special
Reps and Raps to address plight of street children

Invites UNCRC to consider issuing a
General Comment those responsible

Call for enjoyment of all human rights without discrimination

Encouragement for multiple actors to accelerate action against child labour

Encouragement to request technical support in Country Reports to CRC

New detail on sharing good practices, research, policies, monitoring and capacity-building

New requests for increased support for
Special Rep on violence and Special
Rap on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Widening of stakeholders, with more support from States and international community
Encouragement of more systematic use of CRC and recognition of importance of work of Special Representative on Violence and Special
Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Invitation to issue a general comment not reiterated
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 1

on Street Children
The architecture of protection, health and education systems in different countries will vary depending on the context, history of system development, the particular context, etc. The table that follows is necessarily illustrative only and is not comprehensive:
Duty Bearer Roles & Responsibilities re Protection Rights of Street-Connected Children
State  To ensure street-connected children have access to quality formal or informal education
 To legislate against harmful child labour and child recruitment by armed forces and armed groups and ensure
Parents
Teachers
Social workers
Police and other law-enforcers
Doctors/ nurses prosecution for breaches of the law as well as access to responsive services
 To monitor the situation of street-connected children
 To support parents, teachers, medical personnel, carers to fulfill their duties to street-connected children
 To provide a social service network that reaches street-connected children and their families
 To promote full employment

To facilitate the work of NGOs to fulfill child rights

To monitor the interventions of NGOs, businesses, etc. to ensure they are respecting street-connected children’s rights and to take action when they are not
 To provide care and support to their children with or without street connections

To protect them from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation

Not to subject them to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation

To be available for their children, respecting their views, encouraging them to share problems and together finding appropriate solutions

Not to prevent children’s access to education due to requiring them to work to support the family or themselves
 To ensure all children in their care are protected from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and to take action if they are not

Not to subject any child to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation

To ensure that all children are treated with equal respect
 Not to tolerate discrimination in school
 To be available for children in their care, to encourage them to speak out and respect confidentiality

To take action when a child appears to have been abused

To take action when a child misses school
 To respect Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children; and to take action with regard to suspected violations
 To ensure all children in their care are protected from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and to take action if they are not
 To be available for all children in their care, to encourage them to speak out and respect confidentiality
 Not to subject any child to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation

To ensure that all children in their care are treated with dignity and equal respect

To take action when a child appears to have been abused

To respect Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children; and to take action with regard to suspected violations
 To ensure all children they come into contact with – as suspects, victims or witnesses of crime - are protected from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and to take action if they are not
 Not to subject any child to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
 To ensure that all children in their care are treated with dignity and equal respect
 To take action when a child appears to have been abused

To respect Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children; and to take action with regard to suspected violations
 To ensure all children in their care are protected from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
 To be available for children, to encourage them to speak out and respect confidentiality; together seeking appropriate follow up
 Not to subject any child to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
 To ensure that all children in their care are treated with dignity and equal respect
 To take action when a child appears to have been abused
 To respect Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children; and to take action with regard to suspected violations
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 2

Duty Bearer Roles & Responsibilities re Protection Rights of Street-Connected Children
Employers 
To respect child labor legislation
 Not to encourage or tolerate the exploitation of children or exposing them to potentially harmful situations
 Not to prevent children’s access to education due to employment
 To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
Extended family;
Community members

To support the child’s nuclear family in raising and protecting their children especially in times of crisis; this could involve emotional or financial support, or providing a safe and caring temporary or more permanent home for a child who is in difficulty or whose family is stressed

To protect children in their extended family or community from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and take action if they suspect violence etc.


Not to subject children to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
To be available for children, respecting their views, encouraging them to share problems and together finding appropriate solutions
School principals  To ensure teachers and other school personnel are provided with the resources they need to fulfill their duties to all children in their care, including adequate training and numbers of qualified personnel, and advocate for better access to resources where they are not

To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
Social work managers

To ensure social workers are provided with the resources they need to fulfill their duties to all children in their care, including adequate training and numbers of qualified personnel, and advocate for better access to resources where they are not
 To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
Health managers  To ensure health personnel are provided with the resources they need to fulfill their duties to all children in
NGOs their care, including adequate training and numbers of qualified personnel, and advocate for better access to resources where they are not

To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
 To promote and support the development and functioning of child protection systems and their component
Human/child rights NGOs
Media
Academic bodies and institutions and Think tanks
National private sector organizations/ businesses parts (including legislation, funding, training, service delivery, etc.) including during times of emergency

To support the development of good practice in terms of child protection including making tools available and supporting capacity development
 To facilitate knowledge sharing in relation to child protection at all levels (local and national)

To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
 To support government and civil society to human/child rights monitoring and reporting, e.g. through providing resources, supporting trainings, etc.

To support government and civil society in the prevention of abuses of children’s rights, specifically protection rights (taking into account that respect for rights to education, health and participation contribute to child protection), and of human rights generally e.g. through providing resources, supporting trainings, supporting child friendly reporting mechanisms, etc.
 To research, advocate for and share information and knowledge on the situation of children and child rights
 To provide a space for children and families to voice their opinions and hear from others

To develop and respect codes of conduct for research and reporting that respect children’s and families’ rights to respect, confidentiality and participation
 To report in a child friendly manner so that children can understand reports
 Not to report stereotypes
 To research, advocate for and share knowledge on the situation of children and child rights including on streetconnected children and the frequent complexity of their multiple deprivations
 To provide a space for children and families to voice their opinions and hear from others in carrying out research on street-connected children

To develop and respect codes of conduct for research and reporting that respect children’s and families’ rights to respect, confidentiality and participation
 To report in a child friendly manner so that children can understand reports
 To practice good corporate social responsibility with a child rights focus

To respect and promote broader respect for child labor legislation in the business community

Not to encourage or tolerate the exploitation of any child or group of children or exposing them to any potentially harmful position
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 3

 To advocate for safe and respectful child labor policies in the private sector and to respect these themselves
 To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
Duty Bearer Roles & Responsibilities re Protection Rights of Street-Connected Children
UN 
To promote and support the development and functioning of child protection systems and their components
(including legislation, funding, training, service delivery, etc.) including during times of emergency
 To support the development of good practice in terms of child protection including making tools available and
INGOs
International human rights and child rights organizations
International/ regional /global private sector organizations/ businesses
Regional bodies supporting capacity development
 To facilitate knowledge sharing in relation to child protection and street connectedness as it relates to children

 at all levels (local, national, regional, global)
To engage with States when child abuses are evident
To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
 To promote and support the development and functioning of child protection systems and their components
(including legislation, funding, service delivery, etc.) including during times of emergency
 To support the development of good practice in terms of child protection generally and in particular streetconnected children including making tools available and supporting capacity development

To facilitate knowledge sharing in relation to child protection at all levels (local, national, regional, global)
 To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
 To support governments and non-governmental national and local human rights organizations in human/child rights monitoring and reporting including street-connected children, including during times of emergency e.g. through providing resources, supporting trainings, etc.

To support governments and non-governmental national and local human/child rights organizations in the prevention of abuses of children’s rights, specifically protection rights (taking into account that respect for rights to education, health and participation contribute to child protection), and of human rights generally including during times of emergency e.g. through providing resources, supporting trainings, etc.
 To monitor and report on abuses of children’s protection rights
 To hold abusers of children’s protection rights to account and raise awareness on child rights issues
 To support the development of good practice in corporate social responsibility at all times including during times of emergency in relation to child rights and support the UN Global Compact

Support thought leadership initiatives
 To facilitate knowledge sharing in relation to relevant corporate social responsibility and child protection issues at all levels including street connectedness as it concerns children

To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
 To promote and support the development and functioning of child protection systems and their component parts that reach street-connected children (including legislation, funding, service delivery, etc.) including during times of emergency
 To support the development of good practice in terms of child protection including making tools available and supporting capacity development
 To facilitate knowledge sharing and raise awareness in relation to child protection and street-connected children at all levels (local, national, regional, global)

To ensure Staff Codes of Conduct (e.g. regarding abuse of power and sexual exploitation) with regard to children are in place and known; to ensure they are respected and suspected violations acted upon
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 4

1
A successful mapping and assessment should:
 Provide key stakeholders with a clear picture of the structure and functions of the current child protection system
 Describe the current legal and normative framework, noting strengths as well as outlining the country’s future policy agenda in child protection
 Highlight the key risks facing children, and prioritize data requirements for monitoring and evaluating child protection in the country; identify additional data needs on less visible themes
 Drawing on global best practices, assess the capacity of key formal and informal structures
(ministries, agencies, partners, communities, etc.) to develop, administer and implement effectively, monitor and evaluate their child protection responsibilities

Identify and prioritize opportunities to improve service delivery
 Bring key players together to support the development of the child protection system

Establish the financial and human resources required to implement the program
Applying a mapping and assessment process will help achieve the following:

Consensus building around key child protection system priorities

Policies, legislation, implementing regulations, customs and practices that are in accordance with global rights conventions and instruments

Improved system organization and coordination, with clearly defined roles, responsibilities and accountabilities
 Enhanced management and administration of the system
 Expanded access to high quality services, with gaps in needed care identified and addressed
 Increased and better informed participation by children, families and communities in child protection related areas

Greater visibility of the system, supported by improved data and information for decision-making

Resources that are adequate, sustained over time, well coordinated, and efficiently utilized to support child protection - across all systemic areas, from policy development, service delivery, public information and education, to administration and monitoring, and many other areas
1 UNICEF Child Protection Systems Mapping Toolkit, Users’ Guide (2010), 1-4 http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_54229.html
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 5

In a comprehensive assessment and mapping of child protection systems (formal and informal) in five countries in West Africa developed by Child Frontiers (2011) on behalf of the Regional Reference Group for West and Central Africa, which included Plan
International, Save the Children International and UNICEF 2 , the apparent disconnect between the formal child protection system and the reality of the country’s populations was noted as a core challenge.
Four factors contributing to this emerged from the analysis:

The preponderance of top-down policies, strategies and programmes translated into services that target specific groups of children, with an agenda and priorities largely

 influenced by the outside.
The lack of synergy and coordination between child protection actors.
Limited cross-sector collaboration with allied systems – notably, health, education, labour and poverty-reduction initiatives. None of the five countries shows evidence of strong strategic links with allied systems at the sector level.

Human and financial resource constraints.
2 Child Frontiers, Mapping and Assessment of Child Protection Systems in West and Central Africa,
2011. The five countries examined were Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 6

In relation to children, the Convention for the Rights of the Child (1989) contains four guiding (also referred to as core or general 3 ) principles. These are:

Non-discrimination (Art. 2) ;

Adherence to the best interests of the child (Art. 3);

The right to life, survival and development (Art. 6); and

The right to participate (Art. 12).
These four guiding principles represent underlying requirements for any and all child rights to be realized. All interventions for street children should be guided by these principles.
As discussed in Section III, when following a human rights based approach, principles and standards derived from human rights treaties should guide all development cooperation and programming in all sectors for adults and children alike and in all phases of the programming process, from assessment through program planning and design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
4 The UN Statement of Common Understanding on Human
Rights-Based Approaches to Development Cooperation and Programming (the Common
Understanding) 5 was adopted in 2003 by the United Nations Development Group with the purpose of ensuring that UN agencies, funds and programs apply a consistent Human Rights-
Based Approach to common programming processes at global and regional levels, and especially at the country level. The Common Understanding lists agreed human rights principles to be observed in the programming process for adults and children alike as:

Universality and inalienability;

Indivisibility;

Inter-dependence and inter-relatedness;

Equality and non-discrimination;

Participation and inclusion; and

Accountability and the rule of law
Returning to the 2010 Progress Report on the compilation of good practice by the
Independent Expert on the Issue of Human Rights Obligations related to safe drinking water and sanitation (A/HRC/15/31/Add.1), two sets of criteria for good practices are outlined: normative and cross-cutting. While the normative criteria relate specifically to access to water and sanitation 6 , the cross-cutting criteria are also relevant to good practice regarding street connected children, since they are based on ‘human rights principles and more
3 See Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No.5 (2003), General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para 6) ,
CRC/GC/2003/5, para12
4 In the UN Programme for Reform that was launched in 1997, the Secretary-General called on all entities of the UN system to mainstream human rights into their various activities and programmes within the framework of their respective mandates. Since then a number of UN agencies have adopted a human rights-based approach to their development cooperation and have gained experiences in its operationalization. But each agency has tended to have its own interpretation of approach and how it should be operationalized. See http://hrbaportal.org/?page_id=2127
5 UN Statement of Common Understanding on Human Rights-Based Approaches to Development
Cooperation and Programming (the Common Understanding ), adopted by the United
Nations Development Group in 2003; located at http://hrbaportal.org/?page_id=2127
6 The first set of normative criteria are appropriate for consideration of practices in ensuring access to safe drinking water and sanitation, comprising availability, quality/safety, acceptability, accessibility and affordability
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 7

general human rights considerations’.
7 The five cross-cutting criteria to be assessed in identifying good practice outlined in the Independent Expert’s report are:

Non-discrimination

Participation

Accountability

Impact

Sustainability
The first three of these are included in both the Guiding Principles of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Common Understanding. All five of these, we propose, are relevant to good practice concerning street connected children, although we have proposed folding ‘impact’ into ‘accountability’ and ‘sustainability’, given their close inter-relatedness.
In addition we propose adding as a required criterion for good practice ‘the best interests of the child’. We consider that the guiding principle of ‘survival’ falls within the criterion of
‘discrimination’ given the disproportionate number of street-connected children whose survival is compromised by their street connection and multiple deprivations that connect them to the street. We consider the principles of ‘universality’, ‘indivisibility’ and ‘interdependence and inter-relatedness’ outlined in the Common Understanding above as fundamental to good practice concerning children connected to the street when adopting a rights based, holistic, systemic approach and thus adhering to the best interests of the child.
Summary of agreed crosscutting criteria for good practice
Convention on the
Rights of the Child
Guiding Principles
(1989)
UN Statement of
Common
Understanding
(2003)
Best interests of the child
Non-discrimination Equality and nondiscrimination
Right to participate Participation and inclusion
Accountability and the rule of law
Right to life, survival and development
OHCHR report on access to safe drinking water and sanitation
(2010)
Non-discrimination
Participation
Accountability
Proposed Cross-cutting criteria for street connected children
Best interests of the child
Non-discrimination
Participation
Accountability
Inter-dependence and interrelatedness
Indivisibility
Right to life considered within non-discrimination criterion; survival and development considered inherent in best interests of the child criterion
Considered inherent in best
interests of the child criterion
Considered inherent within best interests of the child
criterion
Universality and inalienability
Impact
Sustainability
Considered inherent in best
interests of the child criterion
Sustainability
Sustainability
7 The Independent Expert cites human rights law in her explanations of each of the criteria demonstrating that they are based on ‘human rights principles and more general human rights considerations’ . We reference each to related provisions in the Convention on the Rights of the Child as it incorporates the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 8

Table 1: Volpi, WBI 2002 Executive Summary
‘Street Children: Promising Practices and Approaches’, named as ‘essential ingredients’ of
Interventions - Proposed ‘essential ingredients’ for Interventions for street children: World Bank
Institute 2002, based on 18 NGOs around the world

Trained professionals

Focus on reintegration into the family, school and labour market

Reaching children where they are

Individualized attention and tailor-made services

Children’s Participation
 Physical and mental health care

Involving family and community
 Lobbying and advocacy efforts

Integration of services

Networking and institutional cooperation

Links to programs at the first and second level of risk (ie linking them into community development programmes)
Table 2: Dabir & Athale, 2011: 250-252
Based on ‘Innovative Practices’ by FBOs and secular organizations across 3 cities (L.A., Mumbai and
Nairobi) for street children




Recommendations for guiding policy formulation and implementation:

City-wide databases of orgs serving street-based youth

Ensure protection of children in disasters for prevention
Rights-based programming - child participation and family engagement
Honour diversity of spirituality among children
Identify effective models of interventions through local and international research
Encourage Counselling – re HIV/AIDS, sexuality etc

Assist in acquiring documentation/ID
Recommendations for NGOs/FBOs

Recognize street children have strong belief system which should be acknowledged and
accepted as way of giving sense of belonging and helping overcome self-destructive behaviour


Provide a sense of family life, nurture relationship-building
Flexible programme structure – best in small, multiple facilities

Holistic approach

Collaborative approach
Table 3: CSC 2011: Girls in Street Situations: Good Practice Guidance
Extracts from Collaborative DRAFT paper (involving CSC, Plan, Street Child Africa and Street Child of
Sierra Leone)
WITH GIRLS

Support on physical issues: Easy, free access to sexual and reproductive health services;
Knowledge-building workshops both for girls and wider community; Targeted sensitisation

Support on psycho-social issues: Counseling; Fun, confidence building activities (short-term), work with community (long-term); Tackle stigma; High staff-to-child ratio
 Support on socio-cultural issues: Community authority networks; Self-sustaining workshops with police, teachers and community; Campaign to encourage community responsibility and participation; Provide role models; Bring programmes to street girls; family mediation

Support on economic/educational issues: Gender analysis for work options and skills; Help to rationalise career choice process; Support to develop skills; Build on Income Generation Activities
(IGAs); Develop saving schemes/ self help groups
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 9


Support on political/legal issues: Develop collaboratively models of reintegration and sustainable care; Advocate for effective legislation and implementation; Increase awareness; Develop models of support for fragile States and emergencies; Source funding specifically for girls; Advocate against child marriage and invest in education for girls
INTERVENTIONS
 Prevention: In-depth research; Strategy targeting specific issues faced by girls at risk of going onto the streets; Quality outreach, information sharing workshops and activities; Engage with families;
Secure project longevity

Reaching out: Quality outreach, including at night; Involve girls in development of activities and services; Easy access to counseling; Find valid alternative livelihoods; Recognise adult capabilities;
Look at engaging wider community; Manage expectations

Supporting girls to go back home: Focus on quality reintegration of girls who want to be reintegrated; Work with family and wider community; Follow up for two years
GENERAL
 (Action) Research: Agree common methodology for baseline surveys and headcounts; Commit to understanding local contexts and specifics; Look at local and national government policies
 Quality, Gender Sensitive Services/Programmes: Develop programmes at all stages of intervention; Document, share and develop models of best practice together; Bring in topical expertise and develop database of quality training modules

Coordination And Collaboration: Continuous mapping of existing services; Look at possibility of joined up projects; Promote complementarities of NGO interventions

Monitoring & Evaluation: Develop robust common methodology and indicators; Collect qualitative and quantitative data
 Advocacy & Funding: Develop coordinated messages and priorities; Work in collaboration to lobby donors; Promote positive donor attitudes to funding
Table 4: GCPS 2011, for Plan with CSC: Still on the Street - Still Short of Rights: P. 35-37
Extracts from Conclusions and Recommendations
 Programmes informed by in-depth understanding of street involvement, using participatory research and an evidence base for programme effectiveness

Development of methods for research, monitoring and evaluation of programme interventions

Development of a body of policy research
 Collaboration between development practitioners and academic researchers
 Flexible individual case management approach to working with street involved children is necessary – and also often necessary with their families

Monitoring and evaluation systems to track outcomes in relation to individual children
 Attention to socially excluded and marginalized groups to achieve MDGs

General Comment by Committee on the Rights of the Child needed on Non-discrimination and
Street Children
 Regional frameworks for legal protection of children who migrate across borders

Reviews of government legislation and policies for advocacy on realization of street involved children’s rights
 Children as main actors in realizing their rights

Building responsibility in families and communities to protect street involved children

Resource mobilization strategies in civil society to sustain support for street involved children

National child protection systems sensitive to the needs of street involved children

All actors in systems trained on rights and non-violent ways to deal with street children

CSOs to support community responses and facilitate links to national protection systems

Child protection and care integrated into humanitarian work in conflict and natural disasters
 Coordination and collaboration within NGO sector and between NGOs and governments

Collaboration between governments and CSOs to establish standards and good practice

Coordination and collaboration between civil society organizations for advocacy
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 10


Develop links for childhood safety between rural and urban organizations
 Collaboration between specialist agencies for street involved children and generalist child focused organizations to include issues in broader agendas
Annexes to Global Research Paper for OHCHR – 15/12/11 11

Box 1: International Guide on the methodology of street work throughout the world
A collective approach to building and sharing of practice
This guide is not only written for street workers. Many other actors, whether they are on the ground, in management roles, in the spheres of education or politics, will draw inspiration from it.
Different topics are covered at both methodological and practical levels but also at social, cultural, and political levels. Nevertheless a warning should be given on the limitations of such an exercise. Indeed, despite significant international mobilisation, this guide does not intend to exhaustively discuss street work around the world.
Situations on the ground will always remain more complex and diversified than they appear in written form. Even if this guide, as we hope, will allow for optimisation of efficient practices or improvement in their transparency and comprehension thereof, it is important not to consider this guide as a unique, unquestionable reference.
This guide is a stepping stone, a “snap shot”, and most of all, an invitation to pursue reflection and action.
“In flying the flag for the protection of Children’s rights, wherever in the world they may be, we need to learn how to advance meticulously and intelligently, never using any supposedly more advanced national culture to squash another.” - Workshop of street workers in Senegal
Finally, it is important to underline the humility with which the international network submits this reflection document, made available to the public as an ever-changing work in progress. The reader is also encouraged to really use this guide as a tool. Indeed, this guide does not need to be read in linear form, it may be used in different ways. Depending on their interests and needs, readers may choose their own way of consulting it, either by reading from beginning to end or by dipping in and out at the relevant points, according to their needs.
International cooperation and the fight against poverty and social exclusion throughout the world.
This cooperative process was made possible thanks to much support from different spheres. In every country, local actors and institutions took ownership of the project. Particularly so in Norway, but equally during international meetings of street workers organised in Thiès (Senegal) in April 2005 by the organisation Avenir de l’Enfant, in Kinshasa (DRC) in April 2006 by the Street Work Support
Committee, in Mexico City (Mexico) in November 2007 through the El Caracol organisation, and in
Lisbon (Portugal) in November 2008 through the Conversas de Rua Association.
The European Commission and more specifically the Directorate-General for Employment, Social
Affairs and Equal Opportunities have also lent their support through the Progress Programme.
This programme aims to encourage cooperation and exchange, both in precise areas of action and in defining institutional solutions that support social inclusion and social protection policies in Europe.
This promotion of mutual understanding of good practices and policies aims to facilitate implementation of the open method of coordination in the field of social protection and inclusion.
It is in this light that national platforms of street workers continue to think and exchange with the local authorities.
The Belgian Development cooperation also supports the international dimension of this process, thus enabling developing countries in particular to participate.
And this is probably one of the greatest assets of this guidebook, which is the result of the involvement of various actors, committed to building concrete links of international solidarity. http://www.street-work.net/files/files/Guide2008AN.pdf
Extract from p. 10-11
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Box 1: Headcounts and situation analyses by city/town/region
Broad aims: To estimate numbers, describe characteristics, contexts and circumstances of children
Methods & Techniques: Usually combining quantitative headcounts and surveys, including capturerecapture methods, with qualitative methods such as participant observation and focus groups / semi-structured interviews with small, stratified samples over a short period of time. Some studies have been repeated to explore trends over time: eg AFCIC 2010 in Thika - 2007 and 2009; Bond, 2004 in Ho Chi Minh - 1992 and 2002; UNICEF and Welfare Dept 1996 in Mexico City – 1992 and 1995
Studies include: UNICEF Rapid Situation Assessments (RSA) of street children in eg Cairo and
Alexandria (2001); ILO/IPEC’s RSAs eg in 3 Turkish cities (Aksit et al, 2001); several others by States with UNICEF/ILO support. Aptekar and Heinonen, 2003 in Kenya, Colombia and Ethiopia; Muntingh et al, 2006 in Zambia; Plummer et al, 2007 in Khartoum, Sudan; PEDER, 2009, DRC cited in Henry et al
2010; Ward & Seager, 2010 in Guateng, South Africa; CPCS, 2007 in Kathmandu, Nepal; Ensing &
Strehl, 2010 in Cusco & Lima, Peru; Gurgel et al, 2004 in Aracaju, Brazil; Hatløy and Huser, 2005, in
Bamako, Mali and Accra, Ghana; Southon et al, 2005 in Kathmandu & Pokhara, Nepal; Guarcello and
Koseleci, 2009 in Cairo; Koseleci et al, 2007 in Dakar, Senegal; Johnston et al, 2010 in Albania. World
Bank, 2009 in Kinshasa; There are a number of studies of this kind, some accessible from the ILO-
UNICEF collaboration
Box 2: Ethnography and participatory techniques
Broad aims: To explore experiences, capabilities, perceptions, aspirations, daily lives and conduct research together with children 9
Methods & Techniques: Qualitative methods such as street ethnography and (child-centred) participatory action research, using a number of techniques with small numbers of young people, to explore behaviours, perceptions, interactions, experiences of policies and interventions. Some studies take place over months, even years, and some include several off-street environments. Streetconnected children are recognized as active agents, key informants about their lives, sometimes as co-researchers.
Studies include: Southon et al for Save the Children, 2003, Nepal; CPCS, 2007, Nepal; Human Rights
Watch, 2010, Senegal. Anarfi et al, 2005, DRC; Beazley, 2003, Indonesia; Rizzini and Butler, 2003,
Brazil; Payne, 2004, Ghana; Van Blerk, 2005 and 2006, Uganda; Jones et al, 2007 and 2009, Mexico;
Butler, 2009, Brazil; Smeaton, 2009, UK; Marrengula, 2010, Mozambique; Wiencke, 2008, Tanzania;
Ataov et al, 2006, Turkey; Evans, 2002, Zambia; Couch, 2010, India; Gigengack, 2006, Mexico;
Bordonaro, 2010, Cape Verde; Strehl, Peru, 2010, Serrokh, 2006, Bangladesh on micro-credits . There are a number of studies of this kind, but they are sometimes scattered across disciplines.
8
See Consortium for Street Children www.streetchildren.org.uk
for full source
9
Plan (2011) suggests that street child-centred research by development practitioners has generated ideas for more responsive approaches, which in turn has contributed to the recognition of street children’s issues in policy making
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Box 3: Literature Reviews, secondary analysis
Broad aims: To synthesize existing knowledge, make comparisons over time and between places, assess costs of policies and interventions.
Methods & Techniques: Desk-based research methods have been used to classify and compare policy approaches and types of interventions for street-connected children. Data has been used to compare political discourse, legislation and national plans to local policies and interventions. Data has also been used, but rarely, for economic analyses of interventions for street connected children.
Studies include: Council of Europe, 1994, Europe; Scanlon et al, 1998, Latin America; Staller, 2010,
USA; Droz, 2006, Kenya; Balachova et al, 2009, Russia; Adato & Hoddinott, 2007, Bangladesh;
Ferguson, 2002, Brazil and Mexico. Also Byrne, 1998, Legal Protection; Wernham, 2004, Juvenile
Justice; Panter-Brick, 2002, Health; Thomas de Benitez, 2011, Research; Plan 2011, Rights; Dybicz,
2005, Interventions; Coren et al, forthcoming 2012, Interventions. Smeaton, 2009, UK, Barnardo’s
2010, UK, and Cohen and Piquero, 2007, USA, and Prywes et al, 2004, Benin and Eritrea, on costs and benefits. There are relatively few studies of this kind and are scattered across disciplines
Box 4: Mixed data collection methods
Broad aims: To conduct case studies, outcome evaluations and explorations of systemic relationships
Methods & Techniques: Case studies – by city, organization, and community - have been used to understand street-connected children’s environments and relationships. Studies combining document collection, surveys, interviews and focus groups have been conducted to assess outcomes of policies and interventions for street-connected children. Information has been gathered from primary and secondary sources to assess relationships between legislation, policies, children’s rights and enforcement.
Studies include: Lam & Cheng, 2008, China, Lefeh, 2008, South Africa; Odell et al, 2011, Central
America; Magazine, 2003, Mexico; Samara, 2005, South Africa; Rizzini et al, 2010 Brazil; Henry et al,
2010, DRC; Huang and Huang, 2008, Bolivia; Ferguson, 2004, USA & Central America; Volpi, 2002,
Promising Practices. There are relatively few studies of this kind directly targeting street-connected children.
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