SPARC unites street children with families

Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC) during last three months has unified around 42 street children with their families in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. SPARC found these children on the streets and after giving psycho-social counselling, the organisation convinced the children to go back to their homes and they agreed to do so.
In the reunification process, the organisation's staff was helped by local influential, bus stands administration, Police Child Protection Centre, Child Protection Units, SPARC's district child rights committees-voluntarily working for the protection of children rights in more than 50 districts of Pakistan.
The children were handed over to their parents in the presence of local influential persons after the parents assured not to punish them for leaving homes. These families were also informed about child rights and risk faced by them in the streets.
The children were mostly from the Bajaur Agency, Swat, Kuram Agency, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar etc. The SPARC Drop-In Centre for street children was initiated in 2006 with an objective to provide street children an environment free from all kind of abuse and exploitation.
Beside reunification the street children are being provided facilities of education, recreation, different skills and information regarding their rights and protection from abuse and exploitation. Till date more than 1000 street children had benefited from the centre.