Regions: Africa   Asia   Latin America


Name of Organization: Congregation of Christian Brothers, Catholic Mission

Country: Sierra Leone

Project Title: "Campaign against the use of children in street begging and integration of 150 child beggars Into formal and non-formal education in Free Town and Bo"

Project Timeframe: 18 months

Location of Project: Freetown and Bo

Budget Amount: $45,000

NGO contact and website:
8 Hove Street, Spiritus House
Freetown Sierra Leone,
Phone: 00, 232, 22, 220,177;
Mobile: 00, 232, 76, 602, 834 / 00,232, 76, 602, 808
E-mail: cbproj@sierratel.sl

Project's Primary Objective: Raise awareness of the importance of education for all children, and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand education infrastructures.

Description of Organization: The overall responsibility for this CIRCLE project implementation rests with the Christian Brothers Projects Resource Centre (CBPRC), which is committed to providing education for marginalized children and older youths. The CBPRC has contributed immensely to the socio-economic reintegration of many children and youths in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia, who lived on the margins of their societies.

Currently, the CBPRC is coordinating the implementation of a socioeconomic rehabilitation and reintegration program for marginalized children and older youths in Sierra Leone, with funding from the German Ministry of International Development (BMZ), UNICEF and other donors.

Description of Project funded by CIRCLE: Post war Sierra Leone is currently grappling with many child protection issues, among which is the deliberate and exploitative use of children in both formal and informal labor. In the major Sierra Leonean towns, particularly Freetown and Bo, the use of children in street begging has become a dominant means of livelihood for hundreds of socially ands economically marginalized families. In most instances, children are forcibly recruited by their parents. In other instances, children, mostly of rural origin, are ‘contracted' or induced into street begging in exchange for food, accommodation, and security.

The short and long-term consequences of the exploitative use of children in street begging are very grave. Among others they include: (1) denied access to education which may lead to major losses in human resources; (2) heightened risk of negative socialization due to long and unprotected exposure to street life; and (3) reinforcement of a culture of laziness and dependency. Sadly, the public is unaware of these consequences and therefore the practice goes unchecked and unabated; and worse still there is currently no organized action either by child protection agencies or by civil society or by the Government itself to end or minimize the practice.

This CIRCLE project, "Campaign against use of children in street begging and integration of child beggars into formal and non-formal education in Freetown & Bo" is therefore designed to provide the first type of intervention in Sierra Leone to address exclusively the problem of the exploitative use of children in street begging. The program has two main objectives, the first of which is to raise public awareness among 300 parents, child beggars and local community, and the second to provide education for 100 child street beggars. Winrock and CBPRC hope that the increased awareness will eventually discourage many adults from using children as beggars, the public from delivering free alms to child street beggars, and law enforcement authorities to prosecute persons directly responsible for using children in street begging. The educational reintegration of 100 child-beggars will not only provide a viable long-term alternative to street begging, but it will serve as an incentive for other children.

Project Targets (Common Indicators):
Enrollment: 100
Persistence: 90%
Transition: no transition to non-CIRCLE funded programs
Conclusion: 90%