A Community Comes Together to Protect Street Children

With the support of UNAMID, 50 young Darfuris are building a first-of-its-kind centre in El Fasher, North Darfur, to provide assistance to more than 3,000 street children in the area.

By Albert González Farran
 
The population of El Fasher, one of the largest cities in Darfur, has increased dramatically during the past few years. The city’s reputation for stability, safety and economic growth has drawn thousands of people from rural areas across Darfur. While El Fasher’s population growth is contributing to a bustling economy, it’s also contributing to an abundance of street children. Not all new arrivals in El Fasher can easily find jobs, making life for some families difficult. In situations like this, the most vulnerable suffer the most.

The presence of kids on the streets of El Fasher has increased in recent years, despite the efforts of UNAMID, the Government of Sudan and other partners in Darfur. Many street children work to help their parents make ends meet. They wash cars, sell food, polish shoes or even beg.

The United Nations has introduced various initiatives, such as the Education First strategy, the aim of which is to ensure that every child around the world is able to go to school and receive a quality education. While such initiatives are likely to help continue the global momentum in getting more kids to attend class, here in Darfur the infrastructure problems are compounded by population displacements, country-wide austerity measures and several other factors that are crippling an adequate response to the issue.

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Yakub Ibrahim Sinin moves construction materials inside the centre that is scheduled to open soon. Run by the Sudanese Police’s Child Protection Unit, the new centre will offer support to the several thousand children living or working on El Fasher’s streets.