Street children panacea for a healthy future of society in Uganda. A case study of lira municipal council

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Date
2008-09
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Publisher
Kampala International University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
The study was to examine street children panacea for a healthy future of society in Uganda. The research was guided by four objectives: 1To find out the cause of their influx onto the streets. 2. To identify the problem faced by street children on the streets. 3. To examine the interventions so far made by civil society organizations. 4. To suggest solutions to the problem of street children. The researcher used descriptive research design, focus group discussions, interviews and Observation was used to collect data. Findings show that there are numerous causes of influx of children onto the streets. These causes are not mostly extraneous to the interest of these children. They are driven onto the streets as the only alternative to life. It can further be concluded that, the family set up of these children are quite problematic, most families where they lived could not support them in terms of providing for their needs, most families where they left are in chaos with lots of violent behaviors subjected to either the children or the female counterparts/caregiver. Its further deduced that many street children are orphans due to HIV/AIDS, they have lost their parents and caregivers due to the AIDS epidemic. The prolonged LRA war in the north has even made the influx of children onto the streets more than doubled. Certainly it can further be concluded that he problem of street children are numerous and most important is the problems that they the street children are facing. The problem the community is facing due their presence onto the streets is quite blamed onto the negligence of the community members to provide for the needs of these children through strong community safety-nets systems. Much as there are some organizations trying to work round the clock to support these children, their support seems not sustainable since the number and influx of these children are out-growing the available resources. The problems of street children if not handled with a multi-dimensional approach, it will burst into a very serious national issue that is quite beyond the level at which it is at present. The following recommendations can be arrived at; - The street children should be organized in groups and counseled about the problems they are facing, and the community should be made aware that these children are on the streets not because of their desire, but due to lack of alternative sources of livelihood. - The district and community volunteers should establish some vocational training centers for these children so that they are trained on various vocational skills that would help them generate some income for their livelihood. - There must be a serious campaign against domestic violence among the community so that the causes of influx of children onto the streets as a result of domestic violence are reduced. - The government should devise an all-encompassing policy for dealing with street children and it should be widely disseminated to all the key actors trying to solve the problems of street children. This will guide interventions designed to support street children by giving priority areas of focus with preferences on to interventions that minimize keeping these children on the streets. - All the organizations dealing with street children must have a collaborative linkage among themselves with establishment of a clear referral system among themselves for these children to access services provided by all the organizations.
Description
A research report submitted to the school of postgraduate studies in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of master of conflict resolution and peace building of Kampala International University.
Keywords
Street children panacea, Healthy future of society
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