CAIRO: Cairo hosts 58.7 percent of Egypt's street children, followed by Giza at 6 percent, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Family and Population showed. Minya and Fayoum both rank third with each hosting 5.1 percent of street children. "The phenomenon of street children is a time bomb waiting to explode, Minister of Family and Population Moshira Khattab told state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. Khattab outlined a strategy to deal with the problem, which focuses on two main issues; a strong Egyptian family that is able to protect and care for its children, and a population with a high level of education and qualifications. According to Khattab, the ministry interviewed respondents for the survey more than once, since this is the best method to monitor social phenomena such as street children. The study revealed that 28 percent of street children hadn't receive any education, 26 percent are still in school while 42 percent have dropped out. In addition, 62 percent spend the night with their families while 8 percent occasionally spend the night with their families. Seventy percent of the respondents have been on the streets for one year and 16 percent for one month only. Interestingly, 79 percent of street children have an income to financially support themselves, and 35 percent of the children financially help their families, according to the study. Four percent of the respondents have admitted to using drugs. Most respondents reported incidents of harassment where they were insulted using offensive language as well as harassed by the police, Khattab said. Street children have been a growing problem in Egypt for the past few years. "It might be hard to tell how many children are living on the street in Egypt, but one thing is clear; the numbers are huge and almost certainly growing, stated the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF has been putting a lot of effort into combating the phenomenon. One of its projects provides social, medical and psychosocial support to 2,000 street children in Cairo and works on protecting them from violence and abuse. Moreover, the study said 83 percent of street children in Egypt are receiving aid from different NGOs.
