Rehabilitation of street children-

A project proposal developed by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) for rehabilitation of street children looks quite appealing. It would cost, if approved, the government exchequer Tk4.2 billion over a period of five years. The allocation sought for execution of this development and humanitarian programme is sizeable. But the primary indication is that the emphasis will be more on infrastructure development and cash distribution. A renowned development expert has opined that the focus here is more on 'spending and infrastructure rather than outcomes'. Moreover, the MOWCA, the Department of Social Services and local government institutions run a good number of child-focused social protection programmes. The proposed project, as reported, is likely to repeat many of the existing interventions---conditional cash transfers, vocational training, foster care, counselling and shelter services. Clearly, there is a strong possibility of overlapping.
When welfare of street children is the ultimate goal, coordination between and among the government organisations and other private entities has no alternative. The report that the Bangladesh Shishu Academy will be responsible for execution of this proposed project is confusing. All the government agencies, NGOs and other private social welfare bodies engaged in child welfare programmes have developed their expertise in dealing with this highly challenging issue of child rehabilitation. The Shishu Academy may excel in developing cultural programmes for children but when it comes to development programme, it lacks the required expertise and experience. Here public-private collaboration would be more effective in addressing the persistent problem of separation of children from their families.
In fact, endemic poverty, squalid living conditions arising out of polygamy in slums and recurring family violence leading to abandonment of children are both cause and effect of the problem facing children at a tender age. They run from families out of desperation. But they want to return to their parents as revealed by a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) survey in 2022. According to the BBS, 91 per cent street children want to live with their families. Notably, 71.6 per cent of them do not like to stay in rehabilitation centres. This is a clear message that life in child homes is unappealing to street children. Now this questions the wisdom of constructing another 19 child homes without eliminating the causes of children's unwillingness to live in such centres.
Sure enough, there is a need for improvement of the living environment in child homes but more importantly the root cause of children's isolation from their families and their attitudes towards such shelters should be identified for addressing those. Better it would be to develop the child welfare programme in relation to their families. Their well-being is not an isolated issue from their family's squalid living conditions. It would be wise to address their families' problems ---both physical and psychological---first in order to eliminate the causes of their isolation. The government's family cards can have an effective role here. If a database of such families is prepared to find what kind of interventions they need, the task will prove manageable. This further points to the fact that social security nets should be integrated for smooth delivery of a coordinated service at this level.