Local and International Agency/Institutions on Situation Analysis of Street Children in Azerbaijan1. Program information: Program (No. & Name) :Social and Economic Policy Analysis and Situation Monitoring 2. Background and Context: (Attach background documents, if necessary) Street children are defined as those children who have not lost contact with their family or residential care institution, but who spend most of their time in the street. They are found mainly in the capital city of Baku, where there are more opportunities for informal earnings. Street children are more likely to miss out on school education, and to be more vulnerable to abuse. Both state and non-governmental organizations have been active in trying to help these children, however, interventions are not always effective due to lack of information on the numbers, and reasons for living on the streets. A recent survey of 208 street children in Baku carried out by the State Statistical Committee with support form SIDA provides represents a contribution towards filling this gap . More than half of the children had arrived to Baku from other towns and regions of the country or aboard. 56% of boys and 12 percent of girls were Baku born, while 42 and 84 percent came from other regions of the country. It is necessary to note that from the total number of children never going to school, 77% could read and write. In total number of interviewed street children, the percentage of children who could not read and write was only 4%. Most gave poverty as the reason for not attending school. All children were doing some form of paid work. 25 per cent earned money by washing cars and another 35 percent by begging. Other activities included scavenging, gathering bottles etc. More than 50 percent worked 7-8 hours per day, 33 percent worked 5-6 hours, and 14 percent worked 9-10 hours. Most started working at 10-11 years. Most boys claimed that they worked in order to help support their family, but some were forced to work by their parents or relatives, and approximately 25 percent worked for family or relatives. 44 percent of the girls reported that they were forced to work. Most reported that the work was hard for them, that they did not feel healthy, and reported not having enough food to eat. About 60 percent reported that they had been beaten during work. Poverty and lack of support for families under stress appear to be the main causes of children living on the streets. Dropping out from school at an earlier age increases the likelihood that these children will remain in poverty as adults and lack of a protective family environment increases their vulnerability to exploitation and risk-taking behavior. The CRC affirms the “right of the child to be protected form economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development” (article 32). UNICEF together with the State Committee wanted to conducted qualitative research on the main causes of the children being on the street. However, during the discussion it was made clear that the actual number of the street children in Azerbaijan is not clear. Therefore, the decision is made to conduct a situation analysis of street children in Azerbaijan. Street Children: Street Children refers to those children aged 5- 17 years who are living (i.e. sleeping, eating and working) on the street of a particular city or district. These children are floating in nature and they may live in one place for sometime and then move to other places. They are detached from their family or parents. They usually sleep at night on the roadside, metro stations, bus stations, park, and abandoned houses and public places. These distressed children are primarily seen in Baku. In this study, street children will not include those children who live with their parents/ family on the roadside/ pavements, or in a slum.
The main objective of the situation analysis for the street children in Azerbaijan is to establish accurate and verifiable data set for the street children of Azerbaijan.
6. Major tasks to be accomplished: • The estimate number of street children in Azerbaijan as a whole and by region, The respective organization is required to develop an innovative and effective quantitative and qualitative research methodology to carry out the research study. The organization is also required to propose specific tools for data collection, data entry and processing, and data analysis (including an analytic mechanism either manual or computerized). The respective organization should propose software for data entry, data validation, cross-checking, tabulation and analysis, if they wish to use any.
8. Time-Frame: 40 days spread over 1st August– 30 September 2010 (tentatively) 9. Qualifications or specialized knowledge/experience required: For further clarification on the project, kindly contact Ms. Hossai Wardak, Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, at hwardak@unicef.org. 10. Estimated cost : 11. Procedures and logistics: Submission Deadline: 16:00, 10 August 2010. Proposals submitted after the closing date
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