Abstract:
It is unfortunate that a significant number of children are spending their lives on the street. They are the most vulnerable category of children at risk, as they are exposed to discrimination and different kinds of abuse. Thus, this study assessed the livelihood challenges and survival strategies of street children in Chiro town, West Hararghe Zone. The objectives of this study were to identify the livelihood challenges that street children encounter, assess the living status of street children, identify the types of activities that street children perform for their survival, and identify the factors affecting the livelihood survival strategies of street children. For this study, a mixed research approach was utilized. Due to the nature of the research respondents, purposive and snowball sampling were employed for this study. To obtain reliable and valid information, a structured interview, focus group discussion, key informant interview, and systematic observation were used. A total of 146 street children participated in this study. Thus, the findings of the study show that the major livelihood challenge of street children in the study area was a lack of access to basic needs which 65% of respondents confirmed. The study results indicate that street children have faced food insecurity problems. More than half of the interviewed street children, or 60%, reported that they eat only twice per day. The other 38% of the research respondents reported that they eat once per day. This means that street children may go hungry to sleep or search for food. Around 38.4% and 19.2% of the interviewed respondents reported that they sleep on the street and in abandoned buildings, respectively. This implies that street children were suffering from a lack of comfortable places for sleeping, food, health service access, education, sanitation, safety, and security. The study depicts that street children participated in activities like begging, street vending, shoe shining, car washing, etc. for their survival livelihood strategy. Therefore, it is recommended that parents should be responsible for their actions against their children in providing necessities and treatment. The community should participate actively in the fight against negative perceptions about street children. The government should enforce the existing laws to protect children’s rights
