Street Action - Committed to street children through action and partnership

Former England footballer, Gary Lineker kicked off a game with a difference on Thursday 19 March at the launch of the Street Child World Cup at the Cinemon Club, London. Street Action is part of a global partnership of organisations with the Amos Trust, Consortium for Street Children, Momentum Arts, Global Goals, Child Rights Information Network and Umthombo Street Children, who are providing key expertise and support to the campaign. The project, hosted by our partner Umthombo, will bring teams of street children from around the world to play in a football tournament in Durban, South Africa that will raise the profile of their human rights.

Lineker, speaking at the launch, said “It is great that the Street Child World Cup will use this game, which is loved all over the world, to help give kids a fairer deal. No child should have to be on the streets, so if football can be a part of making a difference, that’s fantastic.”

Teams of street children from 8 countries across Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe will compete in the football tournament that will be hosted in South Africa during March 2010, before the FIFA World Cup.

Jenny Dawkins, project co-ordinator, commented, “Typically, hunger, neglect and violence force children onto the streets, and hunger, neglect and violence meet them there. Children participating in the Street Child World Cup will be given opportunities to challenge parliamentarians, decision-makers and the media from their own countries about every child’s human rights.”

Other professional footballers that attended the launch event included Vikash Dharasoo and Julian Speroni. Theo Walcott has added his support, saying, “I’ve played football as a teenager with the world watching me. The Street Child World Cup is a brilliant project which will help hundreds of thousands of teenagers who live on the streets by getting the world to listen to them and give them a fair chance.”