Children of the street

The event may be a bit unusual. But considering the figures on hand, the significance of the four-day Week of Awareness Towards Street Children, which includes films, displays and discussions, should become immediately apparent.

According to the statistics made public by Jakarta's Deputy Governor for Social Welfare, H. Museno, during the event which is to close tomorrow at the Taman Ismail Marzuki art center on Jl. Cikini, Jakarta has at least 30,000 street children and other neglected youngsters who are in need of help. Among the imperatives of their lives is giving them a better education.

While 30,000 may seem trivial in comparison to the 100 million children who are estimated to work and live in urban streets around the world, that figure is certain to swell to many times that size when the whole country is taken into consideration.

Furthermore, unofficial estimates put the figure much higher and given the size of Jakarta's population one may be forgiven for assuming that 30,000 is a highly over-optimistic estimate.

Consider also the fact that by its own admission the Jakarta city administration can provide only Rp 40,000 -- or the equivalent of a very meager US$18.40 -- per child per year, for only about 2,000 children. Again, the Jakarta municipality has no policy concept for "street children", because these youngsters are not considered "neglected children", a category which does receive some assistance.

We know that a number of organizations, both in government and outside, are doing their best to alleviate the situation. One of them is the Foundation for the Welfare of Indonesian Children (YKAI), a non-governmental organization whose chairperson is the head of the organizing committee of the current festival at the art center.

We do hope, though, that more can be done, and without delay, to improve the situation. One does not have to see movies or read newspaper stories about street children in such cities as Medellin, in Colombia, to realize the potential dangers of leaving the situation untended and allowing the numbers of street children to grow unchecked.

It certainly is gratifying that a growing number of individuals and organizations appear to be ready to extend a helping hand. However, it seems to us that, proportionately speaking, too much attention has been concentrated on helping the street children themselves.

Surely the growing presence of street children in our midst is the product of other social ills that can be remedied. It is for this reason that we truly appreciate the efforts that are being made by the organizers of the Week of Awareness Towards Street Children.

Only by cultivating greater awareness of the plight of those children among the public can we hope to eventually expand the available resources and reach for the roots of the problem. By helping to improve the public's knowledge of the problem, the organizers of the awareness week at TIM have at least contributed a share to the efforts.