On the occasion of 12th of April, the International Day for Street Children, Center for Youth Integration launched a campaign with the aim to point out the prejudices that our beneficiaries are facing on a daily basis.
Children working on the streets are one of the most vulnerable groups of children in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problems they are already facing. Pandemic control measures have further marginalized these children. They feel that their existence is very endangered, and our experience in working directly with them shows that their access to the institutions of the system is even more difficult and that they are at increased risk of violence and discrimination.
Specifically, Drop in Shelter service, during a pandemic, is sometimes used by 150 children on a daily basis, and the increased need for hygiene, food, clothing and footwear is confirmed by the fact that the Shelter has 100 completely new beneficiaries.
Children working on the streets must have access to basic services such as health care and education, and they must be safe, which, we warn, is further aggravated by the ongoing pandemic. For children who live or work on the streets, online school is almost completely inaccessible due to the extremely poor conditions in which they live – without electricity, internet and devices for monitoring this type of school.
We use this date to, once again, draw attention to the very bad situation in which these children currently find themselves.
We also emphasize that the pandemic has not only worsened the status of these children, but that there are still prejudices against them and their families, as well as invisibility for the system that should support them.
#moramobolje This is our problem. It won’t disappear if we turn our heads the other way.
