"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. ~Helen Keller" Welcome to the Western Cape Street Children’s Forum As
a vibrant, dynamic and high-impact network,
the WCSCF is acknowledged
as representing most if, not all of the
professional Street Children Organisations in the Western Cape. Our
mission is to effectively engage
government, business, the wider community, other sectors, as well as
service providers towards the provision of practical solutions to the
very challenging issue
of Street-affected Children. The WCSCF aims
for a collective response, one
that crosses organisational and political boundaries, identifies
and fills service
provision gaps, creates
new and collective solutions, as well as providing
capacity building, information and
skills sharing and training opportunities to organisations working
with vulnerable street-affected children. Proof
of the WCSCF and its members effectiveness
can be seen in the number of street children declining over the last
ten years by 93% (throughout the City of Cape Town), set against a rise, over the same period, in the
number of adult street
people by 59%. The massive
increase in the number of street children in the other
provinces of South Africa should also be a comparison. WCSCF member organisations have
developed national best practice models and a holistic programme of
prevention, outreach, residential care, and family reunification services with
WCSCF support. We still however face many challenges with children living, working and begging on the street. For instance we identified many children who come onto the street during the day to beg, the Taxi children of Khayelitsha, girls involved in prostitution, refugee and unaccompanied foreign children, as well as the many extremely vulnerable children wandering around township streets during the day, all of which are "Street-Affected". We also still have to deal with the constant influx of children moving onto the street. Note: There are no images of Street Children on this site as its illegal in South Africa to use images of children without their parents signed permission. 24hr Emergency reporting number for children in need of Care and protection:
WESTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TOLL FREE LINE: 0800 220250
;) ;)
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