Central Child Welfare Board and Street Child of NepalSubmission to the General Comment on Children in Street Situations

by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

The Central Child Welfare Board works towards the protection and realisation of child rights in Nepal, and coordinates a network of governmental organisations, national non-governmental organisations and international non-governmental organisations that support street connected children. The Board is leading a campaign to address issues concerning street connected children in the Kathmandu Valley through a coordinated and integrated approach. For more information, click here: http://www.ccwb.gov.np

Street Child works with the Central Child Welfare Board and its network of organisations to support and strengthen educational interventions for children in street situations. Since 2008, Street Child has worked with children in street situations in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nepal towards reintroduction to education, reunification with families and reintegration into society and has assisted more than 20 000 children to access education. For more information, click here: http://www.street-child.co.uk.

This submission is focused on rights based, holistic strategies to support children in street situations. In particular, it is concerned with accessible, adaptable educational interventions that fulfil the right to education proclaimed in Article 28 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This submission is informed by consultations with children and staff from the following organisations leading efforts towards change for street children in Nepal -

Child Watabaran Centre Nepal (CWCN) is working to reintegrate and rehabilitate street children by providing education, vocational training and life skills for their long-term social security

Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) is working to protect the rights of the child against child labour and other forms of exploitation

SathSath assists children and youth to develop the capacity to improve their situation and expand their life choices

Voice of Children (VOC) works to rescue, rehabilitate, and reintegrate children into their families and communities by improving their life skills and capacity for self-sustainability

General CommentsThe Central Child Welfare Board and Street Child applaud the efforts of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to offer guidance on children in street situations.

Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child acknowledges that education should develop each child’s abilities to the fullest. General Comment No.5 illustrates this as a ‘holistic concept, embracing the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral, psychological and social development’ and further asserts that ‘implementation measures should be aimed at

achieving the optimal development of all children’1. Whilst there are a range of educational interventions for street children, these are varied in scope, scale and outcome. Thus, a General Comment on street connected children stands to offer states and their partners a framework for coordinated and integrated interventions that can enhance the impact of their efforts.

Adoption of strengths focused approaches to children in street situations

Interventions for children in street situations have tended to adopt correctional approaches, stressing problems, vulnerabilities, and deficits, and resulting in interventions that have been clinical or reactive to the social forces which force children to take to the streets. The Central Child Welfare Board and Street Child believe that interventions should be informed instead by strengths focused approaches, a positive psychology perspective that emphasises the capabilities and resources of children, leverages their strengths and develops these to their potential2.

Children in street situations often have unique knowledge, skills and dispositions required for survival in insecure and uncertain environments. Consultations show that these children exhibit strong self-sufficiency, ability to overcome adversity and resilience and grit beyond their years. Their greatest challenges often arise from destructive stereotypes and appalling treatment by authorities and communities, which threaten their rights and realisation of their potential and force them to the fringes of society.

“Empathy is the most important thing lacking in the streets, in society, in people. When people just see their present behaviour and accuse them and don’t know how they got there. When people see the positive, that is the turning point.”

- Anita Prajapati (Psycho-Social Counsellor, Voice of Children) on the need for positive perspectives

Educational interventions for children in street situations are critical in identifying and extending their strengths, and in inculcating the habits and routines required for them to leverage these in stable home and school environments. These interventions see each child as a rights holder and are child-centred, participatory and empowering in nature.

“The kids are very street smart. They have strong communication skills. And they’re also much more mature. But how to live in a room is the biggest challenge – they’ve never had to do it before. It’s a socialization process.”

- Biso Bajracharya (Executive Director, SathSath) on the strengths of street connected children

Recommendations1. Design of a flexible, individualised curriculum as an avenue to mainstream schooling

1 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5, General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6), U.N. Doc. CRC/GC/2003/5 (2003).2 Lopez, Shane and Michelle C. Louis, "The Principles of Strength-Based Education," Journal of College & Character (2009): 1-6.

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Whilst conventional schools may lack the capacity to cater to street connected children initially, states must transition them into a satellite system of small learning spaces that encourage confidence, esteem and ‘a lifelong project that comes from within the individual’ (World Bank 2008) founded in acquired knowledge, skills, and relationships, rather than from insecurity and uncertainty.This requires an agile curriculum that recognises the life and survival skills that they already have and their connection to the national standards set by each state. It must be appropriately tailored to their interests and preferences, and critically, must allow for learning through play, an essential element of early childhood development often denied to street connected children.

2. Delivery of a strengths focused teaching and learning approach grounding in stable relationships

States must train and support educators to adopt authentic, relevant and meaningful teaching and learning practices that are child centred, and see the educator and the children working together to understand the world around them.

Core to this approach is a grounding in strong, stable relationships between educators and children, as ‘human relationships are the heart of schooling. The interactions that take place between students and teachers and among students are more central to student success than any method of teaching literacy, or science, or math’3. Powerful relationships in turn transcend restrictive social structures and create conditions and opportunities for children to identify and grow their strengths and capabilities.

“They treat you more like a brother and sister, rather than teacher and student.”- Anil, 15 on his relationships with teachers (Child Watabaran Centre Nepal)

States must also train and support educators to adopt differentiated and multigrade approaches for street connected children who have grown and developed at varying paces. Whilst traditional schooling prepares children for the real world, street connected children have already developed skills for survival; educators must therefore encourage children to bring their prior knowledge and perceptions to the learning space, and work with them to identify, interpret and extend these.

“The teachers push for you to understand the material, regardless of completing your homework. In formal education, you get punished for not doing your homework.”

- Corong, 16 on the teaching and learning approach (Child Watabaran Centre Nepal)

3. Development of participatory approaches to implement educational interventions States must promote participation, which is at the heart of a strengths focused approach. Successful peer education models recognise and leverage the maturity, experience and role modelling offered by children formerly from street situations to support their peers.

“Our peer educators have a street background and act as a role model for other street children. They take pride in helping others, and when they are appreciated and recognized, they are so happy.”3 Cummins, Jim, "Negotiating Intercultural Identities in the Multilingual Classroom," CATESOL Journal 12.1 (2000): 3.

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- Sumnima Tuladhar (Executive Director, CWIN) on participation through peer education

States must also encourage participation and support from former and current street children and solicit their ideas and opinions to inform policies, plans and interventions designed for them. Encouraging participation is a critical step in preventing reintegrated children from returning to the street by offering them a social network, emphasising their worth and contribution to society and strengthening their sense of civic sense and identity.

“The facilitator is also a street child. They meet once a month and can provide emotional support or help each other find new places to live. The peer education program allows the children to still be family for each other.”

- Ranjana Sharma (Executive Director, CWCN) on social networks for formerly street connected children

4. Coordination of a Uniform Strengths Focused Approach

States play a critical role in creating a uniformly strengths focused approach amongst the actors who interface with the lives of children in street situations and should ensure that all actors have the means and capacity for implementation.

States must be closely involved in conceptualising the changes required to adopt a strengths focused approach and must provide resources and support for governmental and non-governmental organisations to design curriculum, deliver teaching and learning and develop opportunities for participation for street connected children. This stands to optimise the impact of a strengths focus, and maintains accountability and transparency for protecting the rights of a child at all levels.

ConclusionThe Central Child Welfare Board and Street Child commend the Committee on the preparation of this General Comment, and looks forward to its implementation. We would be pleased to respond to any questions or comments on this submission, and to provide additional information to the Committee upon request.

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