Who are the children in street situations?

Being a “child in a street situation” can mean different realities:

Sleeping on the streets and having no contact with your family;
Living on the streets with your family;
Alternating between the streets and shelters;
Spending most of the time on the streets and going home at night.

These girls and boys all have different stories, but the street plays a central role in their daily lives and significantly shapes their identity.

If you need help and approach someone, they ignore you. It’s because we are dirty.

How can we be clean when we are on the street?

Being clean isn’t about having nice clothes. No, being clean is in the heart.

How do we perceive these children?

To survive on the street and in the face of the indifference of the authorities and adults, the children are forced to beg, sell goods and services, hang out or sleep in forbidden public places.

In the collective imagination, children in street situations are seen as a nuisance, even a threat.

I had nowhere to go and it started raining. I could no longer move.

I stuck to myself because the people who live around here made life difficult for me. If you sleep outside and have blankets, they take them away. It’s very difficult to live outside, especially if it’s cold.

Violence and discrimination

The children who depend on the street for their survival are the most vulnerable to violence and discrimination.

It may be at the hands of adults, for example law enforcement or local residents, but sometimes also of others in the same situation.

Rejected, excluded, these children can rely only on themselves. They lose trust in others.

If we were happy at home, we wouldn’t be here.

If we are here, it’s because we need help, not to be cast aside. Back then, it was even more difficult.

So, you must never give up.

Why does a child end up on the street?

The street is often the result of a combination of factors:

Complex family situations characterized by violence, poverty, rural exodus, migration and isolation, among others.

Difficult social and political contexts such as armed conflict, deep social inequality, discrimination or inadequate social policies.

I mean that people who live on the streets need support. We are not criminals.

We are all human beings, no matter what colour. We, the people who live on the streets, and the people who live in their houses, we are all the same.

Children in street situations can be found in every country of the world. Not necessarily referred to the same way everywhere, they are more or less visible. First and foremost, these children are victims of a system that fails to protect them. Like all other children, they have rights.

Our conviction

We are convinced that children are the future of our societies and that each child has resources and knowledge, whatever their difficulties.

Our commitment

We are committed to giving a voice to children in street situations, protecting them and supporting them in achieving their life goals. The Fondation Apprentis d’Auteuil International (FAAI) and its international partners are working to ensure their rights are respected and that other children do not end up one day on the street.

Our demands

Respect them, protect them

Fight discrimination and violence against children just because they live on the street.
Raise public awareness of the rights of children in street situations.

Listen to them and
give them access to their rights

Ensure that children in street situations have access to all their rights, including shelter, sufficient food, identity papers and access to free health care and education, etc.
Provide a supportive environment for children to be heard and to participate fully in the decisions that affect them.

Support families and civil society

Help parents and families ensure the necessary living conditions for their children’s development to prevent street situations and as a condition for their reintegration into the family when appropriate.
Work closely with associations to develop appropriate solutions and support them in their mission to protect and integrate children in street situations.

In line with General Comment No. 21 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, we recommend that States adopt comprehensive strategies aimed at the prevention, protection and reintegration of children in street situations and allocate the necessary resources to this purpose: