• Street children and youth

Street children and youth

"Young people are adopting an opportunistic approach looking at the street as a road towards self-determination."

This paper documents Mkombozi’s October 2006 consensus which assessed the trends and situation of vulnerable children on the streets of northern Tanzania’s Arusha and Moshi towns. It also indicates whether Mkombozi’s preventative work with vulnerable children and young people in their communities of origin is influencing how many are migrating to the streets from these rural and urban areas.

The authors identify two phenomenon that are appearing:

• as the population of children and young people ages, more adolescents and young adults are relying on the street environment for their survival
• children and young people continue to migrate to towns in search of employment and opportunities. In fact, most of these young people are adopting an opportunistic approach looking at the street as a road towards self-determination and advancement.

Mkombozi advocates that the issue of children and young people is addressed as a failure in policy making and not as a problem where individuals are stigmatised. The census findings suggest there is a lack of investment in education and protection services for children, and a lack of employment and recreation opportunities for youth.

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