Africa Consultation Report for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment on Children in Street Situations

This report is of the Consultations that took place across Africa for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment on Children in Street Situations, involving participants of the Growing up on the Streets (GUOTS) research project. Street-connected children and youth are a highly marginalised group and in fulfilling their right to participate in matters that affect them, listening to their opinions, drawing on their experience and ideas, a much richer understanding of the complexity of their lives positively contributes to policy development.
The children and youth involved in GUOTS are street-connected, spending much if not all of their time on the streets. The majority of children and youth work on the streets. Many live in public shelter – shop fronts or market stalls. In Harare, however, the majority of children and youth live on the streets and in Accra, many children and youth lived in informal settlements prior to government demolitions in 2014. As such, the children and youth involved in GUOTS are extremely marginalised and vulnerable, exposed to violence, exploitation and the harsh realities of street life on a daily basis.