Starting in South Africa we’ve developed a pioneering initiative bringing together street children, practitioners and lawyers to secure justice for street children. As our first country, South Africa will serve as a blueprint for legal change around the world.
Income disparity in South Africa is stark and 20% of the population live on less than $2 per day, despite a strong economy.
It’s estimated there were 250,000 street children as of 2010. Though recent figures are lacking, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis has undoubtedly increased the number of children forming street connections. For these children, poverty and violence are a daily reality —the streets are where they must work, play, eat, sleep, build friendships and create families.
Our work begins in Durban, South Africa’s third most populous city, biggest port and major centre for tourism. Despite its economic activity, Durban struggles with high youth unemployment, offering limited opportunities for many young people. Here, we are running consultations with street children and youth to build an authentic understanding of their daily lives, challenges, and needs.
True change requires listening to and empowering those most affected. To achieve this, we’ve engaged street children not only as participants but as partners in designing the consultations. They have chosen how they wanted to be consulted, selected the questions, and defined the priorities for discussion, ensuring that their voices are central to every step of this journey.