Homeless Street Children in Egypt - Coursework Example

Homeless Street Children in Egypt Table of Contents Introduction 3 Situation 4 Problems 6 Solutions 8 Evaluation 10 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction Evidently, society is responsible for the development of every child to a better future based on proper education and culture, so that they can transform the society into a better place to live. On a larger scale, the adverse effects of these attributes, causing homelessness of children, may inevitably lead to deteriorated stability in the societal context. It is owing to such serious concerns that government and local as well as state communities need to take adequate measures for safeguarding the children from being homeless and leading a healthy life and strengthening prospects of long term societal development. Conceptually, the term ‘homelessness’ is defined as ‘the state or condition of being homeless’, which is considered as a major cause of malignant social conditions (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). With these underlying notions into consideration, this essay intends to explain the growing problem of homeless children in Egypt and suggests adequate solutions to it. The discussion of this essay has been conducted from a critical point of view to evaluate the effectiveness of these solutions and subsequently, offer a more reliable understanding to the phenomenon. Situation Most Islamic communities have high birth rate, leading to growing population and increasing concern for the nations. Egypt also faces similar issues concerning its population control measures, which in turn has deepened the social problem of homeless children. Recently, a large number of displaced children were counted in Egypt, which was further diagnosed as a major cause for the rapidly increasing health problems and high crime rates within the nation. Overall, the problem has led Egypt to witness the challenge of a high degree of social instability. An in depth examination of the phenomenon, may apparently reveal that street children, who are homeless, are often exposed to many social and health risks, imposing grave implications to the social stability. According to Nada & El Daw (2010), developed cities and the urban areas of Egypt have high number of street children. As per the statistics, it is observed that approximately 70 per cent of the street children dropped their studies during their primary education in the year 2006, making them more vulnerable to the issue (ESCWA, 2009). Results have further revealed that more than a million of children in Cairo and Alexandria are homeless and live in the streets. One of the main reasons for increase in the number of street children in Egypt has been identified as poverty. It is evident that poverty gives rise to negative consequences, which forces people and children to become homeless and come up to streets and at times, get indulged in organised crimes. Again, there are several families unable to take care of their children properly, principally due to poverty. Their status of being incapable to up-bring their child efficiently and provide them with necessary amenities to suffice healthy living, ultimately forced the parents to send their child to homes and orphanages with an expectation that their children will be taken care properly. Consequently, this leads to the increase in the number of homeless children in Egypt (Nada & El Daw, 2010). Another contributing factor that has led to the increasing number of homeless children in Egypt is the persistent trend of illegal sexual relations. Due to the upsurge in illegal sexual relationship, the birth of a child is often denied by his/her biological parents. As a result, the child is handed over to an orphanage or abandoned on streets. Being directly correlated with each other, increase in the trend of illegal sexual relationship has increased the number of homeless child in Egypt (War Child, 2014). Furthermore, in the later life of the children, they are observed to be ignored and offended, which in turn shapes their cognitive thinking abilities inclined towards negativity and adversity; hence, leading to criminal violence and drug abuse (Nada & El Daw, 2010). According to ESCWA (2009), a major reason behind the problem of homeless street children is also identifiable as the cultural orthodoxy and the resulting pressure on Egyptian families to abandon their disabled child or girl child or child suffering from incurable diseases such as Aids/HIV. This in turn indicates that the rise in the number of street children is not only caused due to poverty, but is also owing to various other societal and cultural reasons. The persistence of domestic violence is also identified as another major reason for the rising numbers of street children in Egypt. It is in this context that frequency in domestic violence results in neglecting children, causing a mental pressure on the child and thus, provoking them to live independently on streets. For instance, as stated by a homeless child in Egypt, “The recurrence of violence and the constant anticipation of more abuse and violence made the environment at home more dangerous and oppressive than the street” (ESCWA, 2009). Apart from the above-described reasons, child labour also contributes to the rise in the percentage of street child in Egypt. Due to child labour, children are forced to step out of their home, wherein their unemployment causes their homelessness. This increases the risk of criminal violence within the society, as unemployed child labourers are likely to get involved in trafficking and other forms of organised crime owing to their psychological problems. Recent statistics depicted that child labour has resulted in elevating the proportion of homeless street children ranging between the age group of 6 to 14 years. Based on 2006 census, it is witnessed that 2,768,000 children (equivalent to 20.5 per cent of the total children population in Egypt), within the age group of 6-14 years, are homeless (ESCWA, 2009). With such increase in the number of homeless children, the situational challenge being faced by these populaces in the Egyptian streets is getting worse. Based on the situation, the National Centre for Social and Criminological Research (NSCR) in Egypt stated that the trend of sex trade has also become inclined towards child victims in the recent phenomenon, which further worsens the issue in contrast to social stability (The General Egyptian Association for Child Protection, 1999). Problems Egypt is currently suffering from a significant issue of increasing homeless children, in spite of the constant awareness provided to the members of the community. The Egyptian government has been criticised to fail generating proper awareness among the people of the society, regarding the various elements of birth. Due to the lack of awareness among the Egyptian people, they are more prone to get indulged into unprotected sex that leads to various complexities, often resulting in the birth of illegal child or diseases such as HIV/Aids. Additionally, there are many other concerns related to the causes of rising numbers of homeless child that occur because of drug abuse and sexual behaviours. One of the main health problems that the street children in Egypt suffer from is HIV/AIDS, which ranges between 600,000 to a million, which justifies that unprotected sexual relations is also a major cause for their homelessness (Nada & El Daw, 2010). Concerning the recent data, it has been observed that about 54 percent of the people in Egypt have unprotected sex with more than one partner leading to illegal childbirth, who are then abandoned on streets, intensifying the situation of homeless children. Studies have also revealed that rising number of homeless children also gives rise to street crimes, wherein the street girls in Cairo and about 58 per cent of the children in Alexandria have been found involved in sex trade (particularly girls). In addition, 28% of the street boys are observed to be indulged in gay sex, while majority get addicted to harmful drugs at an early age and often become victim of offender in rape as well as other forms of sexual crimes. These consequences reflect due the lack of proper education on healthy sexual relationship, leading to greater risks of HIV and Aids, triggering an unending phenomenon of homeless children (Wac Egypt, 2013). Adding to their limited knowledge on personal safety and their societal roles, studies have revealed that up to 90 per cent of homeless youngsters use psychoactive substances, including drugs, liquor, cigarettes, heroin, cannabis, and promptly accessible medicinal items, for example, shoe paste to gain relief from the psychological pressure (Cyc, 2004). Additionally, the street children are also deemed as the casualties of viciousness, as police treat these children as culprits but do not defend them from their psychological, social or economic pressure (Cyc, 2004). The life in city is perilous, pitiless and to survive in such an environment is crucial. From the perspective of a street child, life in city is better in few aspects as they can earn money through activities such as begging, shoe sparkling, gathering wastes for reuse purposes and other actions. Apart from these, few girls indulge into prostitution or sex work to survive in the environment (Warchild, n.d.). Nevertheless, by no means do these way-outs secure social stability in the long run or aid the community towards betterment. Solutions As revealed in the above discussion, a direct correlation can be found between the rising numbers of homeless children and other societal factors such as poverty, domestic violence, cultural orthodoxy, and insurable diseases such as HIV/Aids among others. At a gathering, run by the Cairo-based Hope Village Society, it was depicted that HIV and the dangers connected with the ailment is a consistent subject of dialog with regards to homeless youngsters. Illustratively, HIV is extremely unsafe disease, which exists in almost every child in the street affecting not only them but others as well (Al-Dien, M.M.Z., 2009). Regardless of the vicinity of other positive elements, for example, the late establishment of the Egyptian NGO Network Against Aids (ENNAA), and developing media scope and projects, huge difficulties were identified to persist within the society. In accordance with this aspect, UNICEF’s officer for HIV/Aids affirmed that there are numerous HIV/Aids related issues that we have not yet handled however propose to handle over the impending years (Uncares.org, 2005). According to CYC (2004), numerous governmental and non-administrative associations as well as parts of the civil society have expanded their consideration regarding homeless youngsters, as this disappointed populace keeps on increasing on a constant and rapidly augmented rate. However, social movement at a larger sphere is essential. In particular, because of unfavourable financial conditions in numerous nations, a global plan to give essential lodging needs to be created. In this regard, Nada & El Daw (2010) noted that reviving incorporated members’ perceptions and in-profundity meetings with road youngsters is much essential to control the situation and prevent it from degrading further. A Time–Location Testing (TLS) system, which was produced prior to evaluating the experiences of homeless people, has been utilized to build a likelihood based cross-sectional overview of road youngsters, showing the venues where the target populace unmistakably congregated in relevance to the stated issue. Since its establishment, TLS routines have been utilized around the globe to specimen concealed and hard-to-achieve populaces and have been portrayed in point of interest somewhere else. In a nutshell, the strategy begins with a developmental stage to distinguish the areas where homeless youngsters assemble in numbers for their recruitment in child labour (McFarland & et. al., 2011). In this context, evaluative areas have been identified through legislative sources such as NGOs in this study. These NGOs have subsequently assisted street children by meeting them in person and strategizing polices for mitigating their sufferings, specifically in the regions of Cairo and Alexandria (Nada & El Daw, 2010). The steps taken up by the NGOs have therefore been mainly focussed towards the areas within Cairo, where 88 specific regions were distinguished and in excess of three movements were organised, making a sum of 264 time-area units. In Alexandria too, 27 areas were distinguished and observed continuously, making a sum of 81 time–location units in order to identify the rudimental causes of the issue. Over the three movements in all areas, 3,357 homeless youngsters were tallied in Cairo and 889 in Alexandria by the NGOs. During the inspection process, youngsters were approached by the concerned individuals, who surveyed their qualification and welcomed them to take part in the review. Questions were matched according to the sex of the individual to get proper information. The information was gathered by taking into consideration the gender and location of the street children to provide better results (Nada & El Daw, 2010). Evaluation In Egypt, no framework exists in the social ground that records or explores instances of savagery against homeless children. The government have no official records of the homeless children living in the streets and hence, it becomes difficult to provide adequate measures, as the objective of these children is to survive rather than to be healthy. The Egyptian government herewith asserts that there are merely 13,000 homeless youngsters in Egypt; yet UNICEF has expressed that this is an erroneous number in proportionate to the percentage of total adolescents in the society. However, in accordance to other reports, the result depicts that the population of homeless children range in millions in Egypt (Nada & El Daw, 2010). It is worth mentioning in this context that the administration’s inability to resolve the issue of homeless children is creating various problems in the society. In spite of the fact that the Bedouin Sanction for Human Rights has grasped major children’s rights arrangements and plans, it can be inferred from the Widespread Affirmation of Human Rights that Egypt has somewhat neglected to execute these thoughts as laws, deteriorating the situation to a malignant state (Scoop Empire, 2014). Conclusion The future of every society relies upon their children, i.e. their next generation. It is thus, that they require proper guidance along with care to survive in the society. Every second a child is born across the globe, which leads to the increase in the population, supporting the claim of “survival of the fittest.” Correspondingly, from the above analysis, it can be concluded that the increase in homeless children has been a result of various factors such as poverty, domestic violence, inadequate knowledge of healthy sexual relations and cultural orthodoxy. Proper upbringing of children demands enormous efforts, taking into the consideration the persisting social, financial and health related factors, which not only imposes a strong influence on the cognitive abilities of the child but also impacts his/her survival in the community. Illustratively, the number of street children in Cairo and Alexandria is in millions today. Further degrading the scenario, these children get affected to the negative environment due to lack of guidance and parental care. Therefore, in order to mitigate the issue of street child, NGOs need to take measures for the betterment of the society wherein governmental aid will be necessary to bring the situation under control. References Al-Dien, M.M.Z., 2009. Education for Street Children in Egypt: The Role of Hope Village Society. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 37-56. Cyc, 2004. Street Children and Homelessness. Homelessness. [Online] Available at: http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0904-Homelessness.html [Accessed July 25, 2014]. Defence for Children International, No Date. Children in the Street. Summary, pp. 1-52. ESCWA, 2009. Looking the Other Way: Street Children in Egypt. Social Development Division, pp. 1-19. McFarland, W. & et. al., 2011. HIV/AIDS In The Middle East And North Africa: New Study Methods, Results, And Implications For Prevention And Care. Aids, pp. 1-5. Nada, K. & El Daw, A., 2010. Violence, Abuse, Alcohol and Drug Use, and Sexual Behaviors in Street Children of Greater Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt. Aids, Vol. 24, pp. 39-44. OED, 1689. Oxford English Dictionary. Dictionary. [Online] Available at: http://www.oed.com/ [Accessed July 25, 2014]. Scoop Empire, 2014. Violence against Street Children in Egypt. News. [Online] Available at: http://scoopempire.com/violence-street-children-egypt/#.U8AdNPldVBl [Accessed July 25, 2014].  Soussi, A., 2007.  Egypt Fights Ignorance on HIV/Aids. BBC. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7120737.stm [Accessed July 25, 2014]. The General Egyptian Association for Child Protection, 1999. Street Children in Egypt: Key Findings of a Study Conducted By the National Center for Social and Criminological Research. International Organization for Migration. The American University in Cairo, 2011. Street Children in Egypt. Street Children in Egypt: Group Dynamics and Subculture Constituents. [Online] Available at: http://www.aucegypt.edu/huss/CairoPapers/Pages/StreetChildreninEgypt.aspx [Accessed July 25, 2014]. UNODC, No Date. Rapid Situation Assessment of Street Children in Cairo and Alexandria. Summary, pp. 1-60. Uncares.org, 2005. Support to Egyptian NGO Network Against AIDS. Joint Programme Agreement, pp. 1-5. Wac Egypt, 2013. HIV and AIDS epidemic status in Egypt. WAC Egypt. [Online] Available at: http://www.wac-eg.info/hiv-in-egypt/ [Accessed July 25, 2014]. Warchild, No Date. War Child - The Charity for Children Affected By War. Street Children. [Online] Available at: http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/street-children?_kk=who%20are%20street%20children&_kt=a93a8cc1-e9cd-4da3-8afa-96e0f5c27941&gclid=CN2k87mtwr8CFanpwgodnigA7w [Accessed July 25, 2014]. Read More