International Day for Street Children

Yesterday saw the launch of the first International Day for Street Children, a new campaign to give a louder voice to the millions of street children all around the world so their rights cannot be ignored.

Here at Quest4Change, we're passionate about the rights of all people, and we're very happy to add our voice to that of the Consortium for Street Children, UK schoolchildren, politicians in the UK and Tanzania and of course, most importantly, to the street children across the globe.

Although all children's rights, no matter where or how they live, are covered by the Universal Convention on Human Rights and by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by most countries in the world, many street children are left to fend for themselves, and it is vital that we all sit up and take notice of their rights. They not only deserve the very basics of food, shelter and protection from harm, but also the right to an education and to community participation. One group working to provide a meaningful education to children living on the streets is the Belgian organisation Mobile School, who work around the globe to develop outreach programmes for children living and working on the streets. They do this by developing educational resources which can fit in and around the children's lives, such as a mobile chalkboard.

One project that we at Quest are proud to be involved in is our project in Brazil, the Casa Lar home for disabled boys, based in a very poor shanty town of Rio de Janeiro. Disabled people make up a high proportion of children living on the street, as a result of being abandoned by their families and left with no one to care for them. Without this project, many of the boys would have no home, no education and no voice. Through education and participation in the community, not only do the boys experience a better quality of life, but this interaction is a vital tool in fighting the prevalent stigma against the disabled in Latin America.

Help us help Casa Lar to continue its work - DONATE HERE.

Volunteer in Casa Lar in 2012, caring for the boys and helping them to participate in the Rio Carnival.