Staff Reporter
Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child on Monday observed international street children day under the theme ‘Every Child Deserves Every Right’ with aim to giving voices to the millions of street children and creating awareness about their deleterious state.
Highlighting the significance of the Day on the occasion, Khalil Ahmed Dogar, Program Manager SPARC said globally, around 28 million children are homeless due to ongoing conflicts and account for almost half of the refugee population.
Despite near-universal adaptation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there is a considerable lack of effort and visible action internationally and nationally in addressing the plight of street children, he expressed.
He further added that unfortunately, more than 2.5 million street children were facing a bleak future in Pakistan.
Almost half of the children, 56 percent, run away due to domestic violence, 22 percent are out-of-school or other educational facilities and 22 percent are working to support the family, he added.
SPARC Program Manager, told that Pakistan needs to follow four steps of the United Nations’ General comment on street children: commit to equality, protect every child, provide access to services and create specialized solutions.
These are foundational steps for formulating policies and creating multi-prong institutional responses in tackling the issue of street children in Pakistan.
