Streetism Onsets, Challenges and Roles Played by Stakeholders to Care the Street Children: A Case Study of Street Children in Mekelle City

Abstract

The study aimed to explore onsets and challenges of streetism and to describe the roles played by the stakeholders to protect the street children in Mekelle city. Using a purposive sampling, focus group discussions were conducted with two groups of informants: one group included four representatives of the community leaders, and other a combined group of four governmental and six nongovernmental representatives. Additionally, two key informants were interviewed on one-on-one basis. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Based on the participants' responses, It was found that poverty, parental pressures and step-parents' abuse, pedagogic problems, lack of public awareness, and low legal enforcements to protect the rights of children and absence of responsible bodies who may be accountable in the matter. In the streets, children had faced physical and psychological harassments, societal marginalization and neglect of their rights to get the necessary services. These findings, therefore, call for all policy makers, the public, and researchers to address the current difficulties of the street children.