Why do children migrate to the streets?
Government and Civil Society must address child vulnerability
By Tanja Kisslinger, Mkombozi Volunteer
Although many national and international organisations believe children migrate
to the streets because of financial poverty in the family context, Mkombozi
knows that the immediate and underlying factors of child migration are actually
caused by non-income forms of poverty. Non-income forms of poverty include:
family breakdown, marriage breakdown, divorce, step parenting;
lack of community support, lack of extended family support, breakdown of
support networks;
unjust community structures and practices (e.g. forced young marriage);
marginalisation and exclusion (e.g. traditional gender roles that restrict
education for women);
lack of conflict resolution and stress management skills by the parents;
lack of parental education about child care and development;
breakdown in traditional value systems.
Mkombozi=s research and experience show that these non-income forms of poverty
actually exacerbate income poverty and lead to a high level of familial stress
or dysfunction. In turn, this dysfunction B including conflict, abuse,
alcoholism, substance abuse, poor communication skills, truancy, theft, illegal
activities, and isolation from the wider community B cause children to be
Avulnerable@ or Aat risk@ of leaving home.
Problematically, a recent Mkombozi study of Government and Civil Society
responses to child vulnerability shows that national poverty reduction
strategies and international organisations fail to fully address the non-income
forms of poverty that drive children to the streets. They also fail to include
any form of protection for children from the factors that cause them to become
vulnerable. In fact, even international organisations B perfectly poised to
effect real policy change B are largely focused on working with street children
by tackling income poverty alone or by tackling the problems children face when
they=re already homeless.
Given the current focus in policy making circles on implementing the National
Strategy for Growth and the Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP/MKUKUTA) and developing
pro-poor policies, it is vital that Government and Civil Society build a picture
of the dynamics occurring amongst the most vulnerable groups in society. Street
children and socially excluded youth are a visible manifestation of poverty in
rural and urban contexts B they provide a clear indicator of the success or not
of social safety networks in addressing child and familial vulnerability.
Mkombozi recommends that attention be focused on how the Government (both
national and local), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the general public
can work together to ensure that MKUKUTA strategies (particularly those related
to improved quality of life and social well-being) can be integrated into all
our practices and realised at a grassroots level.
Notably, Mkombozi=s study of responses to child vulnerability includes case
studies of several street child organisations working alongside Mkombozi in the
Kilimanjaro and Arusha Regions. The case studies show that important and
effective work is being done with Tanzania=s street children. For instance, the
understanding of critical Apush@ and Apull@ factors which cause children to
migrate to the streets (e.g. AIDS, poverty, family breakdown, inaccessibility of
primary education, boredom at home and in the community) is an essential premise
to a complete understanding of the causation of non-income forms of poverty.
The case studies also show that Mkombozi=s Community Strengthening approach is
unique in Tanzania. With this approach, Mkombozi facilitates the direct
involvement of communities in the research and understanding of child migration,
enabling them to decide upon and implement changes within their own geographical
area to halt this pattern.
Mkombozi strongly recommends that local, national and international street child
organisations adopt and employ the Community Strengthening model so that the
crucial link between non-income forms of poverty and child migration can be
understood at a global and regional level. In this way, communities can be
empowered to design and develop interventions and strategies to mediate conflict
in families and in the community, knowledge can be shared among groups, and
social support networks can be improved.
Mkombozi knows that 30% of children are Aat risk@ of coming to the streets. As
such, it is not enough to work with children who are already homeless B every
effort is required to find innovative and effective ways to reach those children
who are vulnerable within their homes now and will inevitably turn to the
streets.
The full text of Mkombozi=s AResponses to Child Vulnerability@ study is
available for download in PDF format (1.23MB) on the Mkombozi website at:
http://www.mkombozi.org/pdf/200509childvulnerability.pdf
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