THE FIGHT AGAINST STREETISM

Dear Editor ONE of the notable features that has characterised Lusaka from the times of antiquities is the seemingly helpless street children and adults who are littered in the city mostly in the central business district. The generational problem has been caused partly by economic factors and partly by the social factors among them the breakdown of family values. While the problem has been escalated from the family level, they have been escalated to the security issue owing to the resultant acts such as children begging for alms, security, substance abuse and the exponential increase in crime levels. The problems have been aggravated by the absence of the necessary policy framework to address the problems that caused or caused by streetism. There were some measures that were taken to ensure that the problem of streetism is dealt with. Among them was the Social Cash Transfer aimed at aiding the children headed households as well as the aged. The aged now turned into destitution were also earmarked to benefit under the Social Cash Transfer. Streetism has also turned teenage girls into wives and the child and the Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood (GEWEL) programme that ensures education for girl-children removed from families from child marriages. The government has also identified the NGOs that are child-centred to support vulnerable children. Zambia National Service has also been designated to provide rehabilitation centres to provide skills training and education for street children once they remove them from the street. MARVIN CHANDA MBERI, Lusaka.