The NCCM proposes a new initiative to help homeless children, reports Dina Ezzat A recent meeting of officials and non- governmental activists attempted to provide answers, even if temporary, to the increasingly visible problem of street children. Held at the National Council For Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), a body that advises on state policies related to children, the meeting brought together sociologists, officials, child rights advocates, businessmen and parliamentarians. It was chaired by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, the president of NCCM. The NCCM meeting examined options to contain the problem by preventing an increase in the number of street children, estimated variously as between half a million and two million. The meeting also examined ways to provide children with alternatives to life on the street. The majority of proposals, which will be further considered by a specialised NCCM committee, argued that it was necessary to provide free and secure accommodation for children on the street, especially those who have no families to take them back, as well as education and vocational training that might allow children to reintegrate into society and become productive and independent citizens. Participants argued that legislation and social-support programmes are necessary to eliminate the problems -- child labour, physical abuse -- from which many children are running away. Participants reviewed several pioneering initiatives by individual businessmen to establish shelters and provide professional counseling to the most troubled street children. The NCCM meeting agreed on the need to establish follow-up mechanisms for school attendance, especially in poorer neighbourhoods where the pressure of poverty or maltreatment results in high drop out rates. Civil society activists, especially from within the business community, pledged funds in support of a comprehensive government scheme to help street children find safe shelter and a better future. The NCCM plans a follow up meeting within weeks to examine the recommendations of the special committee. While the NCCM has been working in coordination with state ministries on the problems posed by the growing number of street children, independent non-governmental organisations criticise the failure of government bodies to prioritise a phenomenon that has been on the rise for years. It took last month's shocking revelations of a criminal network preying on street children to galvanise resolve to tackle the issue. Street children, said NCCM Secretary- General Moushira Khattab, are the responsibility of society as a whole, not just the state. She argued that the strategy adopted by the NCCM to improve the conditions faced by children by providing them with better schooling, better health, psychological care and more legal rights, could only alleviate the problem by reducing the number of runaways. Independent advocates and social workers argued that it was necessary for the general public, as well as the state, to acknowledge that a good percentage of street children were abandoned after being born out of wedlock. Without addressing the problem of poverty that leads families to abuse children by forcing them to work, as well as the social stigma attached to illegitimacy, it will be impossible to address the root cause of the problem. In a brief statement before the NCCM meeting that convened on Saturday, Mrs Mubarak expressed the commitment of official and non-governmental bodies to drawing up the first ever children's rights budget, dedicated to supporting children in accordance with the international agreements to which Egypt is a signatory. Mrs Mubarak also announced plans to set up a five-year plan for children's rights in Egypt that will address acute problems, with street children given priority.
