Street Child

I Implementer

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Description

Street Child works in the world's toughest places to ensure that the poorest and most marginalized children can go to school and learn to read and write for a brighter future. We believe in the power of young people to change the world, but 125m children worldwide are out of school and failing to learn. Street Child believes that education is a fundamental human right and the surest pathway out of poverty, so we bring education to these potential change-makers, creating a generation of people who themselves have the skills, knowledge and resources they need to solve the systemic poverty and disenfranchisement their countries and communities face - crucial for long-term change. We recognize that the barriers to education are complex and interlinked so our projects focus on a combination of the following, to address the social, economic and structural issues that underpin today’s learning crisis: • Economic empowerment via sustainable livelihoods: Cash grants, leadership & business skills training, mentoring, and access to a savings program to families with out-of-school (OOS) children, to create and sustain a small enterprise. The program has an 84% success rate. The condition is that recipients must use profit to send at least 1 child to school. • School repair/construction. Schools in conflict or disaster zones are often unusable, and many rural villages have never had a formal school structure. We build and repair formal structures for year-round learning, to improve learning outcomes and normalize education in regions where it is not prioritized. • Teacher training. Many teachers have poor literacy or numeracy skills. As well as delivering a lower standard of education, they are unable to achieve a government salary so pass on teaching costs to parents. Informal fees are a huge barrier to education, so we provide funded training programs which upskill teachers and act as a formal pathway to accessing government payroll. • Child protection. We reunite children with immediate or extended family and strengthen the bonds between child and caregiver through mediation and parenting classes. We also offer trauma counselling and health and safety education. • Community advocacy & sensitization for the benefits of education more broadly, and with a focus on children marginalized by disability, gender, or refugee status – to promote tolerance and reduce violence against women. • Self-esteem building and rights awareness. We provide workshops and safe spaces where disadvantaged groups can share experiences e.g. of prejudice, develop skills necessary for independence including resilience and coping mechanisms, and learn about their rights and how to access them. • Emergency relief. We use our networks to provide for people’s basic needs during a crisis e.g. food, water, shelter. One-third of the world's out-of-school children live in disaster and conflict-affected countries. This percentage is rising annually, yet only 2% of humanitarian funds are spent on education in these emergency zones. Education in emergencies has therefore become a huge part of what we do. Wherever we work, we partner with local organizations and communities, building their capacity and independence and designing and delivering all programs with them.