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FEATURED ARTICLE *** Lufwanyama Villagers Riot Over Street Kids Rodgers Kalero, Times of This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 August 2011] Irate villagers in
Lufwanyama district damaged three Government vehicles and injured two
policemen when they ran amok over Katembula Training centre street children
who are allegedly terrorising people. The villagers in Chief
Shimukunami’s area got incensed when their traditional ruler tried to calm
them down during a meeting with Government officials, who included Copperbelt
Permanent Secretary, Jennifer Musonda. The street children had fled the
training centre, following hostility from the villagers.The villagers had
risen against the youths and were demanding that they be taken away because
they were allegedly harassing women and other people. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF
– www.unicef.org/infobycountry/zambia.html [accessed 18 August 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/zambia.htm [accessed 17 January 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Because HIV/AIDS claims the lives of many adults in the
country, a growing number of orphans have been forced to migrate to urban
areas, increasing the population of street children. In order to
survive, many orphans engage in various forms of work. Street children are especially vulnerable
to commercial sexual exploitation, and the problem of child prostitution is
widespread in [4288] In the city of Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61599.htm [accessed 17 January 2011] CHILDREN
-
There were approximately 1 million children under the age of 15 in the
country who were orphaned, approximately 750 thousand of these as a result of
HIV/AIDS. These children faced greater risks of child abuse, sexual abuse,
and child labor. Approximately 75 percent of all households were caring for
at least one orphan, and children headed approximately 7 percent of
households due to the death of both parents. The government instituted
programs to increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS. There are laws that
criminalize child prostitution; however, the law was not enforced
effectively, and child prostitution was widespread. The presence of an
estimated 30 thousand street children in During the year the
government continued implementation of a strategy to provide shelter and
protection to street children, including prostitutes. The Ministry of Labor
reported that the majority of the five thousand children removed from child
labor during the year were street children. Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6
June 2003 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/zambia2003.html [accessed 9 March 2011] [36] The Committee
notes the information that children deprived of a family environment (orphans
and other vulnerable children) should be cared for by the extended family and
that foster care is supported by special fees paid to foster parents, but the
Committee is concerned that these forms of alternative care are not
sufficiently encouraged and supported. [68] The Committee expresses
grave concern at the high and increasing number of street children. In particular, the Committee notes their
limited access to health, education and other basic social services as well
as their vulnerability to police brutality, sexual abuse and exploitation. Street kids – a major problem in Southern
Province [accessed 18 August 2011] Mr Hakayobe said
some of the households in rural and peri-urban areas were living in absolute
poverty and did not have access to the basic needs such as food, clothing and
shelter. The Permanent Secretary said
as a result of increased poverty in many households, children and youths had
been forced to live and work on the street.
Mr Hakayobe said this had exposed youths to bad vices such as child
prostitution, early pregnancies and marriages resulting in most of them
contracting HIV/AIDS. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78686 [accessed 18 August 2011] Moses Phiri, 15, is
one of thousands of OhmyNews, 2008-January-08 english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=381416&rel_no=1 [accessed 18 August 2011] Most of the
children face a bleak future, without parents to care for them and with
little, if any, assistance offered by the government. The children are often traumatized by the
death of parents, stigmatized through association with HIV and often thrown
into desperate poverty by the loss of breadwinners. They live under enormous
pressure and suffer depression and other psychological problems. Young girls, in particular, are the first
to be denied educational opportunities in favor of boys and are forced into
early marriages with older men, which put them at higher risk of HIV
infection. Children, both girls and boys, turn to the streets in search of a
better life but the reality that confronts them can only be described as grim.
Street life creates extreme vulnerability to violence, exploitative and
hazardous labor, sex-work and trafficking. The Times of This article has been archived by World Street
Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] "The ministry
has so far removed 52 children in various streets of The other 398
children were removed from the streets of Shelter that gives hope to Marriane Pallister, The Herald www.heraldscotland.com/shelter-that-gives-hope-to-africa-s-street-children-1.857922 [accessed 18 August 2011] Never say that they
have nowhere to go. They still dream about becoming future leaders who'll be
respected some time in their lives. It becomes so painful for them when they
see their friends being taken to school and this makes them feel bad and
neglected. Probably they'll
start thinking of going back home. Unfortunately, they find it hard to leave
the street because they're wed to street life. Lubuto Libraries Provide Haven for AIDS
Orphans, Street Children Louise Fenner, Bureau of International
Information Programs (IIP), US Department of State USINFO, media-newswire.com/release_1049265.html [accessed 18 August 2011] Meyers, an American
librarian who spent many years in Lufwanyama Villagers Riot Over Street Kids Rodgers Kalero, Times of This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 17 August 2011] Irate villagers in
Lufwanyama district damaged three Government vehicles and injured two
policemen when they ran amok over Katembula Training centre street children
who are allegedly terrorising people.
The villagers in Chief Shimukunami’s area got incensed when their
traditional ruler tried to calm them down during a meeting with Government
officials, who included Copperbelt Permanent Secretary, Jennifer
Musonda. The street children had fled
the training centre, following hostility from the villagers.The villagers had
risen against the youths and were demanding that they be taken away because
they were allegedly harassing women and other people. State Aims to Remove 6,000 Children From
the Streets The Times of This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] Billboards to
educate the public on the negative effects of encouraging street children
through alms-giving would be erected in many places, the minister said. She also said the
Government would enforce laws regarding child labour and would continue
rounding up the children to engage them in productive ventures while others
would be taken to reformatory schools. "Above all, as
a Government, we shall address the root causes that have made children go to
the streets mainly through empowering programmes after identifying families where
these children are coming from. UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=61461 [accessed 18 August 2011] Dressed in baggy
trousers, caps and colourful T-shirts, the toughened teens of the "Back
to School Project" were scared.
The boys, all between the ages of 14 and 18, live on the streets of Efforts to Rehabilitate Street Children
Welcome EDITORIAL, The Times of This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] Some have suggested
that one of the ways to solve the problem is to punish negligent parents.
Another way to tackle the problem would be to improve social amenities in the
country where most children could spend their pass time. It is more
practical to invest in structures which syphon children from the streets than
simply donating clothing and foodstuffs for them." Michael Wines, New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/world/africa/24iht-web.0824zambia.2574785.html [accessed 18 August 2011] The boulders here are
hard enough that the scavengers who have taken over the abandoned quarry
south of downtown prefer not to strike them directly with their hammers. They heat the rocks first - with flaming
tires, scrap plastic, even old rubber boots - so that the stones will
fracture more easily. At dusk, when
three or four blazes spew choking black clouds across the huge pit, the
quarry looks like a woodcut out of Dante.
A boy named Alone Banda works in this purgatory six days a week. Nine years old,
nearly lost in a hooded sweatshirt with a skateboarder on the chest, he takes
football-size chunks of fractured rock and beats them into powder. Lacking a hammer, he uses a thick steel
bolt gripped in his right hand. In a
good week, he says, he can make enough powder to fill half a bag. His grandmother, Mary Mulelema, sells each
bag, to be used to make concrete, for 10,000 kwacha, less than $3. Often, she
said, it is the difference between eating and going hungry. Zambian gov't plans to recruit 1,000
children living on streets Xinhua News Agency, August 14, 2006 english.people.com.cn/200608/14/eng20060814_292990.html [accessed 18 August 2011] The Zambian government
is planning to recruit about 1,000 children living on streets countrywide
next month in an effort to address the social problem caused by poverty and
widespread HIV/AIDS, The Post quoted an official as reporting on Monday. "There is so
much interest now as more children want to be removed from the streets and
integrated into these programs," Bobby Samakai, permanent secretary of
the Sport, Youth and Child Development Ministry, was quoted as saying. There are
altogether 15 camps allocated in the country's nine provinces providing basic
skill training to the recruited street children, said Samakai, adding that
the criterion was to take the most vulnerable who had no parents and nowhere
to go first. Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reviews initial report of Zambia Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner of Human Rights OHCHR, 27 April 2005 www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=384&LangID=E [accessed 20 September 2011] RESPONSE BY
DELEGATION
- Concerning the State party's measures to deal with the crisis of widows,
orphans, child-headed households and street children, the delegation drew
attention to the Micro Bankers Trust which was created in collaboration with
the Government and other partners to provide small loans to poor but viable
groups of people in order to support their various businesses or income
generating activities. The Public Welfare Assistance Scheme assisted the most
vulnerable groups of persons in society in order to meet their basic needs,
particularly in health, education, food and shelter. The Government's support
to street children was provided through District Street Children Committees
that implemented street children's activities. ANDnetwork .com, July 15, 2006 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] The problem of
street children requires economic solutions, Restoration Ministries Reverend
Cyril Phiri has observed. Reverend
Phiri who runs a number of christian orphanages in Reformed Street Kid Embraces New Life Abigail Chisenga, The Post, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] A young man in Dulu Chipampa, 22, who
is now a reformed adult and employed by Beautiful Gates, a non-governmental
organisation (NGO) assisting to rehabilitate street children in Kitwe, says
it is difficult for him to believe that he has come this far. Chitoba Expresses Concern Over Drug Abuse
Among Street Children Inonge Noyoo, The Post, This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] "The
vulnerable children are one group which is prone to drug abuse under the
influence of substances such as Genkem, Bolstick and these substances have
serious effects to their mental development. The commission is working with
government departments and NGOs to address the plight of vulnerable children
on the street who are abusing substances that are not listed on the schedule
such as genkem, bbolstick and alcohol," he said. Chitoba said the
commission has plans to put up a rehabilitation center for street children to
undergo treatment without being pressurized into relapse by older street
kids. He said drug abuse and trafficking has continued to negatively impact
on the lives of children on and off the street. Aids will orphan 20% of children by 2015 South African Press Association SAPA &
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (German Press Agency) DPA, At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] By 2015 about 20%
of SOS
Children: SOS Children’s Villages www.street-children.org.uk/african-street-children/zambia [accessed 18 August 2011] • Over 30% of all children under the
age of 15 are orphans Zambia-s 1.5
million street children Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey, Pravda, August 2,
2002 This article has been archived by World
Street Children News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 18 August 2011] One and a half million children in AIDS Orphans Join
The Rank Of Street Children Jowie Mwiinga, Inter Press Service IPS, www.aegis.com/news/ips/1999/IP991208.html [accessed 18 August 2011] They swarm the central business
district of Lusaka like invading locust, hungry, aggressive and destructive. They move around in menacing little bands,
darting away for cover when the police appear, only to re-emerge with renewed
determination when the coast is clear.
They are Street Children
High On Sewage Ishbel Matheson in news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/406067.stm [accessed 18 August 2011] At the Sex work rife among street children UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
IRIN PlusNews, www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=36024 [accessed 18 August 2011] Commercial sex work has become
increasingly common among children aged 14 to 16. When educated about the danger of HIV/AIDS,
they say that AIDS is something in the future and that their hunger is a more
real and pressing need. Challenges 2004-2005: For Zarina Geloo, Inter Press Service News
Agency IPS, www.ips.org/africa/2004/12/challenges-2004-2005-for-zambia8217s-street-kids-the-outlook-is-bleak/ [accessed 18 August 2011] The United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) estimates that there are currently over 75,000 children living on
the streets of Another 16-year-old, Masuzyo Muhango
– said to be the "longest-serving" street child on "Before we were like a family.
I remember some boys would look after me on the streets; we would share
whatever food we scavenged and sometimes buy each other clothes," she
observes, adding, "But these same boys now want to beat me up and rape
me if I do not hand over my days takings. It’s because it is difficult to
find money: that’s why our co-operation has broken down and it’s
dog-eat-dog." As Adults Lose
Jobs, Children Bring in Wages Joe Chilaizya, Inter Press Service News Agency
IPS, pangaea.org/street_children/africa/zambia.htm [accessed 18 August 2011] Of the male
population aged seven and above, 57% are engaged in an economic activity. The ballooning problem of child labor is
attributed to rising job losses among parents as companies buckle in HIV/AIDS and Child Labor In Zambia: A Rapid
Assessment on the case of the Lusaka, Copperbelt and Eastern Provinces International Labour Organization (ILO) /
International Labour Organization (ILO) , 2003 www.eldis.org/assets/Docs/13864.html At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly also be accessible [here] [accessed 2 October 2011] Job types: vending
on the street and in markets, quarrying and stone breaking, fetching water, porterng
(kuzezera), household chores or domestic work, digging wells and garbage
pits, carpentry, cooking nshima in the markets, cutting grass, picking
bottles, and prostitution earnings: the financial contributions of the child
were often the only income their families had. Street Children From Other Towns Flood
Livingstone Mcdonald Chipenzi, The Post, allafrica.com/stories/200504100144.html [accessed 18 August 2011] Livingstone has
experienced an influx of economic street children from other towns. Most of them were being sent by parents to
beg on the streets to support their families. The Protection Project - The www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/zambia.doc [accessed 2009] FACTORS THAT
CONTRIBUTE TO THE TRAFFICKING INFRASTRUCTURE - HIV/AIDS, coupled with poverty,
has contributed to the proliferation of street children and child labor in Information about Street Children - www.streetchildren.org.uk/reports/Zambia%20Child.doc [Last access date unavailable] Background: 47% of
the population under 18; life expectancy at birth is 37 years; estimated
75,000 street children in 1996; HIV prevalence rate of 20% for adults between
the ages of 15 and 49; estimated number of orphans between 600,000 and 1.2
million. Street children are very mobile between cities; All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
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