Street and working children and young people

Poverty, family disintegration due to death/illness or abandonment, abuse, neglect, social unrest, natural disasters, flight from war zones, loss of parents due to HIV/AIDS, and child trafficking are all often triggers that result in a child living on the street and doing hazardous work.

Today, millions of these children live on the street unprotected from abuse and exposed to extreme hardship. Millions more are engaged in dangerous and harmful work, often hidden away from the public

The exact number of children who live and work on the street is impossible to quantify, but according to UNICEF it is likely to be in the tens of millions – or higher. It is an escalating concern that is more prevalent in poor nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

In 2004 there were 218 million children engaged in child labour and an estimated 126 million children aged 5-17 engaged in hazardous labour. It is also estimated that children represent 40-50 per cent of all forced labour. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that more girls under the age of 16 are in domestic service than in any category of work or child labour.

Aim of the programme

Our goal is to protect children living on the street or doing hazardous work from violence and abuse, and support them so they graduate to adulthood with a good education, life skills, employable skills and a sense of self worth.

Target group

We will support children and young people who live unsupported on the street; who are doing dangerous and harmful work; who are sexually abused, exploited and trafficked; who are employed as domestic workers and at risk of exploitation and abuse; who are subjected to slavery or servitude and bonded labour; who have been severely stigmatised and rejected by their communities.

Geographical focus

The Street and Working Children and Young People’s programme will focus in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent and five countries in Latin America (Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia). We will also consider supporting work in South East Asia and other areas of Latin America if they are particularly innovative or represent an opportunity to inform our learning across the grants portfolio.

Outcomes

Your work will need to deliver one or more of the following outcomes:

• Street and working children realise their rights to services (e.g. health, education,) resulting in improved health, educational attainment
• Children are better protected from abuse by all duty bearers, resulting in children living free of fear and with greater opportunity to fulfil their potential
• Children and families have increased and more stable incomes, resulting in greater livelihood security and better protection and support for the children
• Children are more confident and participate in decisions affecting their lives, resulting in organisations and duty bearers being more responsive to children’s aspirations
• Demonstrable evidence of reduction in stigma against abused children, resulting in the effective reintegration of those children into community life
• Improvement of policies and practices at a national, regional and district level, ensuring the rights of children. This should particularly focus on long-term retention in formal and non-formal education, accessible basic healthcare and juvenile justice. 

Types of grants available

Grants available under the Street and Working Children and Young People programme are as follows:

Project grants – these may be up to £1 million over five years. Organisations are strongly advised to submit applications that are proportionate to their size and capacity, the size and capacity of their local partners, and their track record to date.

Restrictions: none

Research, Consultation and Planning grants – these may be for up to £25,000 and for up to 12 months’ duration. They will enable partners to carry out action research, a needs analysis, a pilot study, and related work that will help applicant organisations to develop a well thought out proposal.

Restrictions: these grants are only available to organisations with an income of less than £1m per year, or Diaspora-led organisations.

Investment grants – these provide long-term, core funding for local organisations, usually over five years. There is no upper limit but Investment grants must be proportionate to the size and capacity of applicant organisations and their partners.

Restrictions: these grants are only available to selected partners with a long history of Comic Relief funding and a track record of success in work related to our Street and Working Children programme.

Download the full Street and Working Children and Young People programme strategy document