Street children not pests: Experts
Street children not pests: Experts
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Experts are becoming critical of government
policies which treat street children merely as "pests to be
controlled", and are calling for a comprehensive examination of
the problem.
Some 200 experts at the two-day International Conference on
Street Children, which was opened here yesterday by Indonesian
Minister of Social Services Inten Soeweno, agreed in their
preliminary discussions that there are "gaps" between policies
drafted by decision makers with how the street children are
actually being handled.
An Indonesian official present at the meeting at Sanata Dharma
University admitted that the country has yet to formulate
strategies to handle the problem of street children effectively.
Teresita L. Silva, the Philippines regional representative for
CHILDHOPE Asia, a non-governmental organization (NGO) for street
children said: "Governments, including Indonesia's, must seek
better treatments if they wish to solve the problem of street
children once and for all.
"Street children are not pests to be controlled. They are some
of the most creative people and...survivors, despite having to
live with many limitations."
She called on all communities to "own" their street children,
rather than leave them to the care of the non-governmental
organizations and the government.
Both Silva and sociologist Loekman Soetrisno of Gadjah Mada
University, who moderated yesterday's sessions, agreed that
people involved in the problem of street children need to be more
visionary and have better action plans.
Loekman suggested that Indonesia learns from the Philippines
in its handling of street children. "The NGOs in the Philippines,
for instance, have struck some kind of an agreement with the
National Police Chief never to roundup street children," Loekman
said. "Arresting street children does not solve the problem. It
dehumanizes the children."
The Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Services,
Setiyoko, conceded that Indonesia needed to undertake more
research on the problem of street children. "We don't know for
sure how many children are out there, roaming the streets, we
don't even have a uniform definition of who street children are,"
he admitted.
As a result, Indonesia does not have a strategy to tackle the
problem well, he acknowledged.
Donald C. Kaminsky, the executive director of the Honduras-
based Foundation for Development, Friendship and Resources said
street children are living in exceptionally high risk
environments.
"Their personal hygiene and nutritional status are poor. They
are also victims of economic and demographic dislocations,
widespread poverty, family disintegration, societal violence, and
physical, sexual and emotional abuse," he said.
Kaminsky, an associate professor at Tulane University's School
of Public Health, called for a comprehensive response to the
situation. The government and the NGOs should offer preventative
treatment as well as rehabilitation measures, he said.
"Prevention and care should be integral in nature," he said.
"Street children must be looked at and cared for within a
holistic framework. The problem analysis and response to it need
to take into consideration the interrelated bio-psycho-social
factors which define the health conditions of street children."
A number of street children participated in the conference,
selling handicrafts and books on street children published by
Humana Foundation. Calling themselves GIRLI (from the Indonesian
words pinggir kali, meaning those living on river banks), the
children mingled easily with conference participants.
Taking the theme of "empowering street children", the
conference is being held by the Indonesian National Council of
Social Welfare and the Yogyakarta chapter of the Coordinating
Board for Social Welfare Activities. (30)