Project for Children Living and Working on the Streets

UNICEF assisted project for children living and working in and on the streets will be implemented by Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, State Ministry in Charge of Women and Children, other related ministries and institutions, in 8 provinces of Turkey. For UNICEF Turkey, the primary response to prevent children going on the streets is through education - sending them to school and keeping them there.

I) Social Mobilization

10 to 20 NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations) will be contracted in 8 cities to carry out social mobilization activities in poor neighborhoods. Each NGO will be expected to hire on average 100 - 200 social workers. In total, each social worker will reach on average 2000 families and their children and local authorities in the neighborhood during a period of 6 months. The aim is to increase the rate of enrollment and attendance of out of school children aged 6 - 10 years.

Key activities to be carried out by social workers: inter-personal discussion with parents, especially mothers and organise sport events with and for 30 - 60 children. UNICEF believes that sports is one of the main tools for reaching children.

Estimated cash required to pay social workers and develop their capacities: US$ 175,000

Supply required:

a) An information kit for social workers (brochures, booklets, stickers, notepads, and a bag)

b) Sports kit for each social worker (balls, games, t-shirts for the children, a case to carry the material etc...)

II) Parenting Training Programme

UNICEF believes in the importance of educating the parents about available financial support that would obviate the need for children to work. Guidance and counseling should be provided to help resolve inter-familial conflicts and issues. It has taken a long time to realise that in order to provide care and protection for children living and working on the streets, a very different approach is needed. We need to understand the profiles of the families; in the past the focus has been put on the child and very little work has been done on the family.

As a result of this new UNICEF supported project, at least 10,000 mothers living in the poor neighborhoods with children at risk in engaging in the street life will have their skills and knowledge on effective parenting, increased.

Key Activities:
At least 200 trained Ministry of Education, SHCEK (Social Services and Child Protection Agency), NGOs, ÇATOM (Multi-purpose Community Center) and municipality staff will conduct the parenting training sessions with the mothers. The training will be carried out in existing community and adult learning centers.

Estimated cash required for conducting the training activities and developing capacity of the trainers in 8 cities: US$ 255,000

Supply required:

a) Training kit for the trainers (bags, training material, flip charts, markers, games, books etc...)

b) Training kit for the mothers (bags, exercise books, games etc...)

III) Catch up education for out of school children age 10 - 14 years old

For UNICEF, the primary response to prevent children going on the streets is through education. Institutionalisation should only be considered as a last resort. For the children themselves, a specific programme of 'catch-up' education is needed to allow those who have never attended, or who have dropped out, to get back to school. So, education is very much a re-integration response as well as a preventative response.

Key activities:
Teachers, school guidance counselors, NGOs and SHCEK social workers will identify and facilitate the enrollment of out of school children, including girls. An estimated 1500 persons (teachers, school guidance counselors and non-governmental organizations and Social Services and Child Protection Agency social workers) will be equipped with tools and information to carry out the above mentioned activities.

Estimated cash required for conducting social mobilisation activities and developing capacity of 1500 persons in 8 cities: US$ 450,000

Supply required:

a) School kit for each child (bags, note books, uniforms etc...)

b) School kit for teacher and school guidance counselor (bags, posters, booklets, notebooks, games)

c) Bag for NGOs, SHCEK and Ministry of Education staff (bags and material)