By Innocent Byaruhanga Oburye
As the coronavirus pandemic rages, often little is known or reported about street children. From the onset of the pandemic, governments announced lockdowns that restricted movements of people, which left street children wandering in confusion.
One such child is Peter, 12, from Uganda’s central region. For the last 4 years, the street has been his only place of abode, having left his ancestral home in Masaka district. As the lockdown was announced, he pondered his next move as security forces moved in to enforce the new guidelines and the streets became deserted.
The Commission on Human Rights has defined a street child as any child for whom the street has become his/her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults.
Globally, the number of street children is still unknown. The United Nations asserts that the number of children on the street fluctuates according to socio-economic, political, cultural conditions including growing inequalities. The Consortium for Street children estimates that over 100 million children are living on the street globally.
Uganda’s street children population remains unknown, but some reports have pointed to approximately 15,000 children in the capital city Kampala, and a few other towns.
This number has been increasing over time and some estimates show that there could be more than 40,000 children living on the streets throughout the country.
Several reports have highlighted the main reasons children end up on the street; insecurity and loss of livelihoods especially in the northeastern region of Karamoja, breakdown of the traditional family, and the search for a better life in the city and towns.
Uganda’s record of handling street children has not always been straight. A 2014 report by Human Rights Watch profiled systematic abuse of street children by state agencies like Police.
The report titled, “Where Do You Want Us To Go”, revealed that street children had faced violence and discrimination by Police, local government officials, and the communities in which they dwell.
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Uganda in mid-march, the government announced measures to contain the spread of the virus including night curfews. Street children were often found in violation of these directives for lack of where to live since the streets had been their dwelling. Hundreds were rounded-up and incarcerated.
The closure of most businesses during the lockdown also meant they couldn’t work to make a living. Even those that depended on begging couldn’t survive since the streets were deserted and the well-wishers on whose mercies they had survived for decades, were no longer accessible.
With hardly anything to eat, the government through its Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, and some non-governmental organisations rescued some of these children and housed them at selected schools in the Capital, Kampala.
Hundreds are also sheltered at homes run by non-state organisations like Save Street Children Uganda.
The situation in these homes has been better than the tortuous streets, where they were exposed to constant sexual and physical abuse and harassment from state agencies.
However, in the congested settlements, the threat of contracting Covid19 is still imminent especially with increasing community cases and limited measures for social distancing.
Street children have also not benefited from public education on the prevention of coronavirus since they have limited access to state mediums of communications.
The government of Uganda recently passed a $0.6m supplementary budget, to rescue and support 1,500 street children in the capital. Analysts however say this is insufficient to address the problem.
All these efforts have been concentrated in the capital city. Little is known of the fate of other children on the streets of big towns across the country.
The plight of street children in the western district of Mbarara recently caught national attention when they demonstrated against continued police brutality and harassment. This was in response to the murder of two of their colleagues ostensibly by Police, one Anthony Kamukama, and the other unidentified.
“We were caught by Police. My colleague who died was hit with a police baton on the head. He was put inside a sack and one of the police officers stepped on his face. By the time he was let free, he was already passing froth from his mouth,” a street child who witnessed this death narrated.
“I came to Mbarara to make a living, but when I saw how my friend died, I can’t remain here. I am going back home so that I am not killed” said the Juvenile aged approximately 10, while weeping inconsolably.
The message from non-state actors to government, on its obligations to protect street children during the coronavirus pandemic has been clear.
There is a need to provide handwashing services, masks, and social distancing facilities; these can best be provided in homes.
A Meticulous plan and collaboration with other actors can hasten the process, as the country moves into a post-lockdown period with new restrictions.
Permanently rescuing these children and reintegrating them with their immediate or extended families is the most plausible option.
Child protection experts argue that in the event this is not possible, other options like local adoption can be explored especially for children who have been orphaned or abandoned. Placing these children in institutions as a last resort is another option that has been fronted, but rather cautiously.
In the mid-term, there is a need for stronger international collaboration through the United Nations, to support the rescue, rehabilitation, and skilling of street children.
International donor agencies should support the acquisition of accurate data on street children to facilitate planning for essential services like health, education, and access to justice.
Governments in developing countries like Uganda should be supported to adopt more effective strategies for protecting street children during the coronavirus pandemic.
Innocent Byaruhanga Oburye is a former street child, founder, and executive director of Save Street Children Uganda.
