Street Action - Committed to street children through action and partnership

As the world marks World AIDS Day on 1st December, Street Action would like to draw attention to the millions of street children around the world who are affected by the disease but continue to be the hidden face of the global pandemic.

HIV/AIDS has added to the complexity of the issue of street children, and the disease has fundamentally changed the context from which children come to the streets, as well as the resources available to assist them. With a projected figure of 4.2 million AIDS orphans by 2010 in Sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF) the number of children living on the streets is considered by many as likely to increase; this is in spite of family networks that absorb thousands of African children without parents, despite the added pressures this places on their resources.

On World AIDS Day, Street Action would like to underline its commitment to our partners work with street children in Burundi and South Africa who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Street Action seeks to empower street children through innovative advocacy and research that is driven by our partners. We are commitment to the application of research in this area and through working with our partners we want to increase the visibility of the challenges street children face.

Street Action launched at Downing Street in October the results and findings of a research project undertaken in Durban, South Africa. The title of this project is ‘If a child cries (dies) on the street does anybody hear? Dr Nigel Rollins of the World Health Organisation (WHO) captivated the audience with a compelling presentation of the results of this important research project. The project aimed to provide objective data regarding the health and well-being of children living on the streets of Durban; to describe their experiences of that life; and to describe the range of services directed at them. The project intended to provide insights and perspectives that, even if not exhaustive, could update and better guide responses and services to these children as well as understand the affect that HIV/AIDS was having on the streets.

The research was a partnership with Umthombo Street Children, Street Action and the University of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). In 2010 Street Action will be launching the full research report and will begin to explore how it can be scaled up to inform policy and practice around the issue of health care and HIV/AIDS.

DFID reported that “World AIDS Day will not only focus the world’s lens on the plight of millions who remain outside the prevention, treatment, care and support net but also on tackling the human rights abuses and social stigma that is keeping them there”. Despite this commitment, Street Children remain the missing face of HIV/AIDS. Treatment, care and support is something that still alludes many of them. If we don’t critically look at the situation of children living on the streets then we are doing them a disadvantage. As Nigel Rollins said at Downing Street "As much as we can be moved by stories and pictures and music put together well, there is also value in having statistics. In terms of research and HIV it is a completely evidence free zone". More research can only be good for them. Being involved in research is certainly a way of protecting and promoting street children’s rights but also ensuring that they have a voice and no longer become the forgotten, hidden faces on World AIDS Day.