Street
children Statistics
Worldwide
At least 100 million children worldwide are believed to live at least part
of the time on the streets. . . These street children are first and foremost
working children. (UNICEF, 29 March 1994)
Africa
Children now make up half of the population of Africa. Many in urban areas
are reduced to living on the streets, surviving through begging, theft and
violence. (FEBA Radio Publication)
Bangladesh
There are 10,000 street girls living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (World Vision
International, 1993)
Belgium
Belgium has 4,000 homeless children (in the charge of homeless parents).
(Council of Europe)
Bolivia
In BOLIVIA there are 1,500 to 2,000 children living and sleeping in the
streets. (Bolivian Government, Census Figures, 1992)
Brazil
Homeless children in Brazil number around 12 million. (Action International
Ministries)
Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia has about 5,000 to 10,000 street children. (World Vision
International, 1993)
Central America
It is estimated that there are at least 40 million street children in Latin
America. Many are victims of abuse, sometimes murder, by police, other authorities
and individuals who are supposed to protect them. (Casa Alianza Organization)
Colombia
5,000 to 9,000 children live on the streets of Bogota, Colombia. (Action
International Ministries)
France
France has about 10,000 street children. (Council of Europe)
Ireland
Ireland has 500 to 1,000 street children. (Council of Europe)
Mexico
Mexico City has 1,900,000 underprivileged and street children. 240,000
of these are abandoned children. (Action International Ministries)
In the central area of Mexico City there are 11,172 street children. 1,020
live in the street and 10,152 work there. (City of Mexico/Fideicomiso,
Report, 1991)
Netherlands
Street children in the Netherlands number some 7,000. (Council of Europe)
Peru
Up to 10,000 street and underprivileged children die in Lima, Peru every
year. (Kids Alive Ministry)
Philippines
There are 50,000 to 70,000 street children in Manila. (Action International
Ministries)
There are an estimated 1,200,000 street children in the Philippines. (Report
of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (1991) from Jubilee
Action, 1992)
It is estimated that there are 1.5 million street children working as
pickpockets, beggars, drug traffickers and prostitutes. (End Child Prostitution
in Asian Tourism (ECPAT))
Romania
A survey funded by the European Union found around 1,500 children living
on the streets of Bucharest. More than 50% were aged between 12 and 15
and 83% of them were boys. Almost 40% had been on the streets for three
or more years and 30% were permanently stoned on solvents, while another
25% used them occasionally. ("The Independent", 8 July 1996)
Russia
In MOSCOW 5,000 children and young people are abandoned on the streets
every year. (BBC1 News, 12 October 1994)
Turkey
There are 6,000 to 7,000 street children in Istanbul, Turkey. (Council
of Europe)
United Kingdom
According to a 'Crisis' report half of the beggars on our streets spent
their childhood in care and a quarter slept on the streets before they
were 16. ("IDEA" Magazine of the Evangelical Alliance, January
1995)
Nearly 100,000 young people go missing in Britain each year. (The Children's
Society, "Young runaways", 1989)
Vast numbers of children in the United Kingdom run away from home and
156,000 young people are homeless in Britain every year. (according to
Shelter)
United States of America
In the United States there is a crisis situation and Federal Government
revealed that there are about 500,000 under-age runaways and 'throw-aways'.
("New York Times", 5 February 1990)
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