BUJUMBURA March 7th (ABP) – The phenomenon of street children (ESR) and begging is a reality in Burundi, it was noted on Thursday March 3, 2022 during the round table organized at the hotel Royal Palace by the Ministry of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, to discuss with stakeholders and development partners in Burundi on the national strategy for the prevention of the phenomenon of ESR and adult beggars as well as their community reintegration.
The permanent secretary at the ministry in charge of social affairs, Mr. Félix Ngendabanyikwa, in his opening remarks to the work of the round table, pointed out that the presence of Burundi’s development partners, senior officials from the various sectoral ministries and other stakeholders, is a sufficiently eloquent sign that testifies that the phenomenon of ESR and begging is a shared concern for which concerted and lasting solutions must be found.
To that end, Mr. Ngendabanyikwa thanked Unicef for remaining alongside the Burundian children but also for its technical and financial contribution to the success of that round table.
He pointed out that this session has a double objective, namely the sharing of the content of the national strategy for the prevention of the phenomenon of ESR and adult beggars as well as their community reintegration, and the solicitation of participants’ commitments in the implementation of actions. concrete steps that we expect to take to reduce or even eradicate that phenomenon.
In his presentation on the national strategy cited above, Mr. Etienne Gashamura, executive of the said ministry, showed that this phenomenon is detrimental to the normal logic of today’s society and constitutes an important source of concern at the individual, family and community levels.
According to the estimates provided in May 2021 by the provincial coordination of the Provincial Directorates of Family and Social Development (DPDFS), the current number of ESRs in the 9 provinces which are already experiencing this phenomenon amounts to 5,000 ESRs in the town hall of Bujumbura, 120 in Bujumbura province, 600 in Kayanza province, 530 in Ngozi province, 150 in Muyinga province, 145 in Kirundo province, 155 in Gitega province, 147 in Makamba province and 153 in Rumonge province, i.e. a total of 7,000 ESR of which 90% are boys and the rest are girls, we learned during the presentation.
The representative of the resident coordinator of the United Nations system in Burundi, Mr. John Agbor thanked the actors committed to the cause of children in accordance with the international convention on the rights of the child, through their multifaceted support in different sectors affecting development, survival and growth of the child. He also thanked the government of Burundi for all the efforts already made to promote and protect the rights of children in Burundi.
Mr. Agbor stressed that the causes of the CSR phenomenon are multifaceted but that a special place belongs to the family and the community, stressing that the place of the child is not in the street. “We are aware that preventing and responding to the phenomenon of ESR is work that requires pooling efforts and subsequent means to achieve zero street children by 2030,” he added.
Mr. Agbor also pointed out that the implementation of the national strategy for the prevention of the phenomenon of ESR and begging is among the priorities of the government, civil society and the international community. He stressed that it is essential that donors support these efforts with financial commitments to achieve the expected results before reiterating the full availability of the entire United Nations system to continue to support the government’s efforts in the realization of human rights of every child in Burundi.
The participants in the round table welcomed this national strategy developed in favor of social and adult beggars while promising to contribute to its effective implementation.