Street Action - Committed to street children through action and partnership

Umthombo Street Children’s long-term campaign against police methods and through their sustained work of demonstrating the alternatives to forced removals has seen the round-ups in Durban cease for now. Tom Hewitt, CEO and co-founder of Umthombo Street Children say’s, “We are thrilled that round-ups of street children in Durban appear to have stopped and welcome the new era of positive engagement with street children in Durban.”

During last months Street Child World Cup in Durban, despite the positive impact of the event, the seriousness of the issue facing Durban's street children was brought home during a series of round-ups designed to make the streets safer in the run up to the FIFA World Cup this summer. Please click here for the full story on round-ups: http://bit.ly/ddJmcH It was even reported by The Sun here in the UK - http://bit.ly/9SYK8O Tom Hewitt, who has continually argued for the ending of round-ups stated, "Street children are not a safety and security issue, but a social development issue”.

Street Action will be working closely with our partner Umthombo over the coming weeks in the run-up to the World Cup to ensure that Durban’s street children rights are not abused. Umthombo has developed a specific citywide strategy designed to ensure that street children have access to quality social working and health services, and are protected during the lead-up and event itself and ultimately empowered to be able to leave street-life in a sustainable way during the 2010 period.