They don’t usually attract national and even international attention, but street children are an undeniable part of Ethiopian city life, sleeping rough, begging for food and thieving to survive if necessary.
The lot of Ethiopia’s 22, 000 street kids may now be getting some attention after all as Ethiopia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA) announced on Tuesday plans to clear them from the streets and reintegrate them into mainstrean society.
According to a survey conducted in 11 Ethiopian cities, about 88,000 people are estimated to live on streets, including children, women, youth, and the elderly.
Feleke Jenber, director of social security development promotion at MoLSA said that preparations have been made to rehabilitate those who are living on the streets.
In the Ethiopian capital alone, 50, 820 people are estimated to live on the streets and 92 percent of them came from different parts of the country in search of better living situations.
The remaining 8 percent came from the ten sub-cities driven by various reasons.
A total of the $35 million has been put aside by the government of Ethiopia and the World Bank for the project to be held in 11 cities during this Ethiopian fiscal year (2019/20).
Alem Assefa, deputy head of the Addis Ababa City Administration’s Labor and Social Affairs, said the administration plans to provide support to 13,000 of them this fiscal year.
Special attention would be given to children first, followed by women, youth and the elderly, Alem added.
MG/as/APA