“Children on the street should be treated the same as those at home”– Nangobi, 16 from Uganda
Today is the International Day for Street Children! Since 2012, April 12thhas been a day children, governments and organisations come together to listen to and celebrate the resilience of the millions of street-connected children all over the world!
There are lots of different ways to support us and celebrate the International Day for Street Children.
Here are some suggestions:
Read our News from the Streets newspaper!
At S.A.L.V.E., we are fighting for children’s rights every day and want the voices of the children we support to be heard at the highest level. A step towards that is our ‘News on the Streets’ newspaper. The newspaper is written and illustrated by the talented children and young people living on the streets of Jinja, Uganda, and offers an insight into their opinions, what matters to them and what they mean by equality. You can read our newspaper here.
“I think a child on the street does not see equality because he/she faces a lot of challenges”– Matthew, Uganda
“Equality for children living on the streets includes access to freedom of speech, expression and share of ideas”– David, Uganda
Let us know what you think!
Each month, the children in Uganda choose a topic for the Inequality Question and this month’s question is:
What could your community do differently to make sure everyone understands children’s rights?
To reflect the International Day for Street Children, the children wanted to know from people all over the world what they think about children’s rights and how children are treated in their societies. Be sure to leave your thoughts over on the debate.
The children in Uganda will be LIVE on Thursday 25thApril to debate with you all and share their own opinions on International Day for Street Children and the role of communities in standing for children’s rights.
We have some suggestions so far – what do you think?
“Communities should join hands together with police so as to protect street children at night.”– Matthew, Uganda
“I ask the police kindly to get to know the reasons as to why that child had left home.”– Lokuta, Uganda
“A child should be accepted in the family and given opportunities to participate in discussions and decisions. They are part of the family.”– Zubail, Uganda
“Treat him like your brother. Instead of chasing him just help him because you don’t know what brought him to the street.”– Sula, Uganda
“Children should be given a chance to talk and bring ideas”– Makelele, Uganda
Spread the word!
Help us fight for the rights of street-connected children and spread the word! By using your own social media platforms, you can champion children’s rights and give children living on the streets a bigger voice!
Put out a message on Facebook or Instagram or tweet using hashtags, like #committoequality #streetchildrenday #nostreetcalledhome #salveinternational
Make sure you tag us so we can see all of your amazing posts!
Going forward
Building on the success so far, and following the United Nations General Comment, the Consortium for Street Children (and their members like S.A.L.V.E.) are advocating that there is still more to be done for street-connected children and, in 2018, devised four steps to ensure equality for these children. These are:
- Commit to Equality
- Protect Every Child
- Provide Access to Services
- Create Specialised Solutions
The first step, and this year’s theme, is ‘Commit to Equality’. This is a call to all governments around the world to recognise that street-connected children have the same rights as any other child and should be taking meaningful actions towards ensuring this, through law and policy.
Join us!
Join us in the celebration of the International Day for Street Children and a big thank you from S.A.L.V.E. in supporting us to keep working towards our goal of no street called home in Uganda!
This post was written by Amane Sugimoto (volunteer)
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