07.19.07
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations:
Prevention
• Develop/improve policies to ensure provision of basic social services (e.g. water, education, healthcare) to all.
• Develop a National Strategy for Education that enables access for all and reduces social inequalities.
Protection
• Training for police officers, judicial staff and educators on safeguarding the rights of the child.
• Provide free medical and legal assistance to children in conflict with the law.
• Create specific posts within police and judicial structures for Child Protection personnel
Advocacy
• Implement awareness raising campaigns on children’s rights in schools and the mass media.
Rehabilitation and Reintegration
• Monitor and improve existing programmes to ensure holistic (psychological and physical) treatment of children.
• Develop innovative and flexible alternatives (e.g. fostering) to existing rehabilitation strategies using shelter homes and drop-in centres.
• Develop qualitative indicators for follow-up monitoring of rehabilitated/reintegrated children.
Participation
• Ensure that children are involved in making decisions that affect their welfare, and that they are given the opportunity to express their feelings throughout.
• Ensure that programmes do not exacerbate existing stigma and victimisation of street children.
Monitoring
• Develop a comprehensive national database on street children, and a set of qualitative and quantitative indicators that can be used to accurately assess and monitor their situation.
This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum for North Africa and the Middle East on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street Children”, 3-6 March 2004, Cairo, Egypt. A full version of the Civil Society forum report is also available on the CSC website.
