This report presents the results of a study of the street children population in two West African cities: Bamako in Mali and Accra in Ghana.
The main aim of this study was to develop methodologies for difficult to reach populations, i.e. populations that are not found within household structures or schools, and to give the characteristics of the street children population in Bamako and Accra. In Bamako, the majority of the street children are boys, while in Accra, the majority of the street children are girls. The age structure is similar; in both cities, the street children are mainly between 14 and 17 years old. A large share of the children have been living in the streets for less than three months and they have regular contact with their parents. The children say that life in the streets is worse than life at home. Still, most of them do not want to go back home – their hope for the future is to get a better job.
The report is the third in a series of working papers from a Fafo research program on trafficking and child labour, generously financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
