Partnership Foundation

Problem

In Calcutta alone, approximately 100.000 children between the ages of 4 and 18 live on the streets - without adequate assistance or supervision by adults and without any protection.
These street children have little or no access to basic needs such as food, a home, clothing, medical care and education.
These children have to do without the opportunities and support necessary for a successful reintegration into normal society.
Existing NGO’s and government institutions working in the area succeeded in getting the problem under control, but cannot solve it because of the never-ending influx.

To substantially reduce the number of street children requires large-scale, economically responsible and innovative solutions.
Qualified personnel to work with the street children are difficult to find and retain. This is a result of the low salaries being paid in the social sector.
Stable financial support for the longer term, which is needed to take local responsibility for providing permanent homes, is difficult to achieve through western donor organisations.
The most important needs of the street children, as indicated by them:
Food: 72% of those surveyed;
Homes: 65% of those surveyed;
Health care: 73% of those surveyed;
Education and professional training: 83% of those surveyed.