UNICEF, government launch sensitisation drive on street children

UNICEF and the Rwandan ministries of Social Welfare and Public Works have undertaken a nationwide drive to sensitise decision makers and the public to the plight of the 7,000 children who are enduring a precarious existence on the nation's street, the UN Children's Fund in Kigali told IRIN on Monday.

The effort, which stared on 1 Oct., will end on 29 Dec. and cost about US $37,000. The programme started with a campaign on radio, television and the print media. The messages are being aired as radio and television spots and debates, as well as stories about aspects of the problem such as child labour, and the causes and consequences of such practices. The target audiences are government officials, police, local administrators, social welfare agencies, school authorities and parents.

UNICEF says 3,000 of the nation's street children live in Kigali, the capital. Their condition is a result of extreme family poverty, the 1994 genocide, other killings and war, the AIDS pandemic, the inability of local communities to care for the vulnerable and the inability of urban governments to protect children and provide them areas of recreation.

The UN agency reported in a document on the sensitisation programme, that authorities and the public consider street children as "delinquents, thieves, deviants, and evil people who must be fought by all means and not protected". Mindful of their social marginalisation, UNICEF added, the children Are "distrustful of people and are not always easy to approach".