Posted on Friday 18 March 2011
Wednesday 9 March was a significant day for millions of street children around the world. For the first time since 1994, street children are the focus of the annual United Nation Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) debate in Geneva. In that 17 years, a generation of children have grown up living and working on the streets, lacking proper care, exposed to dangers daily and denied some of life’s most basic needs – housing, health and education.
It’s generally acknowledged by many of our Street to School charity partners that one of the biggest challenges they face is trying to ensure street children’s voices and needs make it on to the policy-makers’ agenda which is why today’s event is so significant.
David Schofield, Aviva group head of corporate responsibility, was in Geneva to learn more about the debate and what it means for our own Street to School programme.
One of Aviva’s Street to School partners, the Consortium for Street Children (CSC), has been working with the UNHRC to help shape the resolution for its members to debate.
Sally Shire, CSC CEO, speaking at Geneva said: “All of us working on behalf of street children, their families and communities, know we must capitalise on this moment to focus policymakers and government attention on the needs of these vulnerable young people. That’s why this year we’re following up this event with a campaign, launching on 12 April 2011, to establish an annual Day for Street Children so we can keep this debate going. We can’t wait another 17 years to have our voices at the table.”
Stay tuned for more information on the Day for Street Children.
