Sierra Leone street children – head count report launched
The street children head count survey conducted by Help a Needy Child International (HANCI), the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and Street Invest from September-November 2011 reveals that a total of 49,698 children are living and working in the various streets of the capital Freetown. The second largest city, Bo records a total number of 6,632 street children. The report states that no other town exceeds 5,000 apart from Freetown and Bo. (Photo credit: www.street-child.co.uk)
A number of 2,699 children were found sleeping on the various streets across the 17 urban towns the survey covered. Freetown is hosting 1,356 children. The number of street children in Freetown exceeds five times the numbers recorded in the same category in any other town.
250 children are living night and day on the streets of Kenema, and 1,821 underage girls were recorded as commercial sex workers. 750 commercial sex workers were counted in Freetown, and 243 in Kenema.
26,569 boys were counted living and working on the street in all the urban areas covered as compared to 23,129 girls in a combined total from all towns. More girls were found engaging in fixed or movable businesses and begging while the boys are either doing causal work or observed jobless.
The process identifies twice as many boys living permanently on the streets than girls. The survey recorded 4,388 children underage six with more girls than boys. 633 were disabled children from a total 29,657 disables under 19 years living nationwide.
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