Submitted by crinadmin on
Following on from its 2003 and 2005 census studies of children and youth on the streets of Arusha and Moshi towns, Mkombozi's 2006 census provides important insight into the lives and aspirations of street children and youth in northern Tanzania. It evaluates the effectiveness of Mkombozi's own outreach interventions. Mkombozi's findings contradict prevailing attitudes that street children are deviant, criminal and socially aberrant. Across Arusha and Moshi towns, 36 percent of street youth spend their time working (77 percent doing so for more than 12 hours a day), 26 percent spend their time meeting basic needs and 24 percent reportedly spend their time begging (75 percent doing so for more than 12 hours a day). Compared to its January 2005 data, Mkombozi's 2006 census figures indicate a positive shift in the overall demographics of street child populations. In Moshi, part-time street children and youth have increased from 301 to 411, but the number of full-time street children has reduced from 169 to 51 - a 70 percent reduction. In Arusha, part-time street children and youth have decreased from 522 to 467 - an 11 percent reduction - and full-time street children have decreased from 354 to 173 - a 51 percent reduction. Mkombozi's census further shows that these reductions actually reflect the aging of the street child population as opposed to a real decrease in the number of vulnerable children and youth. It is within this context of "aging" and "long-term" street populations that two key phenomena are revealed which should inform and underpin the interventions for vulnerable children and youth developed by Tanzania's government and NGOs: (1) Street youth are relying on the street environment for their survival in ever-greater numbers. They have spent a significant part of their childhood in this environment and have strong survival skills, but they have missed out on education and development opportunities that would enable them to function within mainstream society. This has implications for the type of support they need to disengage from the street and reintegrate into more conventional roles. (2) Youth continue to migrate to towns in search of employment and many adopt an opportunistic approach, regarding the street as a road towards self-determination and advancement. In a context of rapid urbanisation, youth unemployment and poverty, these youth are, in fact, making pragmatic decisions to use the streets as a means to lift themselves out of lives of poverty and/or abuse. Thus, street youth must be addressed as a collective failure in policy making as opposed to a "problem" for which individuals are penalised and stigmatised. There is an urgent and immediate need for investment in education and protection services for children, and employment and recreation opportunities for youth.