StreetInvest submission to the UN Global Study of Children Deprived of Liberty

Summary

In August 2018, StreetInvest submitted its response to the Consortium for Street Children’s call for information for the United Nation’s Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty. Our thanks go to all our partners who contributed to this document.

You can read the final UN submission submitted by the Consortium for Street Children here.

What is the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty?

In December 2014, the UN General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to commission an in-depth global study on children deprived of liberty.

The Global Study has three overall objectives:

1. To bridge the data gap on the unknown number of children deprived of liberty worldwide.
2. To raise awareness about the risks of deprivation of liberty for children and society as a whole and promote a change in stigmatizing attitudes and behavior towards children concerned.
3. To collect best practices and develop recommendations for law, policy, and practice to safeguard the rights of children concerned, and prevent as well as significantly reduce the number of children deprived of liberty through effective non-custodial alternatives.

As street-connected children are often deprived of liberty due to police round ups and institutionalisation it is crucial that the experiences of street-connected children are included in such a study.

The study will provide recommendations on actions on how to safeguard the rights of children, how to prevent and significantly reduce the number of children deprived of liberty, and promote non-custodial measures that promote the recovery, rehabilitation and social reintegration of children concerned.