Reaching out to street children for more than a decade

Railway Children has been reaching out to street children around the world for more than a decade, with projects in India, the UK and East Africa.

As an organisation, our primary aim is to change the lives of children living on the streets. Our 3 Step Change Agenda embodies our vision of real change being achieved through success in three interwoven, inextricable areas:

One: Meeting the immediate needs of children on the streets

The reality is that most street children are unable to adequately provide basic human needs for themselves: food, shelter and protection from harm. The first priority of Railway Children is to help these most vulnerable children. Our outreach workers identify children and young people alone and at risk of harm and engage with them on the streets, on their own territory and often on their terms. Step One represents the crucial early intervention and grassroots work with children on the streets that is at the heart of Railway Children’s work to get to children on the streets before an abuser can.

Two: Shifting perception in local context

Despite our best efforts in implementing Step One, we cannot hope to reach every child in need and therefore part of our work is dedicated to building relationships with the communities in which we work. Children living alone on the streets in any society face exploitation from people who view them as commodities to trade, use and abuse. In areas of extreme poverty this problem is increased since the opportunity to use, sell and abuse children is both available and rarely punished. We work to increase awareness in communities, to make children living alone more visible, and to help people see that they are children in need of care and protection, not commodities. We also make sure our local projects are visible and encourage communities to signpost children to us so they can get the help they so desperately need.

Three: Holding governments responsible

Governments are ultimately responsible for protecting vulnerable people and we believe that influencing key policy decision makers to leverage government support for street children is vital for sustained change. The countries in which we work have varying levels of social structures in place meaning that the level of support for street children is wide-ranging, but all require our intervention if the situation for those children is to improve.
Using evidence gathered during our work at Step One and Step Two, academic research and strong relationships with key governmental individuals and departments, our goal is to leverage government support for street children by shifting the policy landscape in their favour.

Only by continued implementation of all three steps in our 3 Step Change Agenda can we truly succeed in making a real, sustained impact on the lives of street children all over the world.