physical or mental disability. To protect orphans or vulnerable children, the Law acknowledges adoption as a way of providing parents for such children. 436. The CRM held interactive sessions with the Ministry of Youth and Sport, which oversees youth affairs, and with representatives of the National Youth Council of Mozambique (CNJ), which defends the rights of the youth, initiates development projects and organises the youth to participate in the country’s development programmes. The administrative structures and duties of the CNJ permeate through the provincial and district levels to the grassroots level. These vertical structures enable the top leadership to reach the rural youth with ease. The youth have organised a Children’s General Assembly to air their views to the Assembly of the Republic. Though underfunded by the government, the objectives and aims of the CNJ are geared towards protecting and developing children and young people in general. 437. In spite of having ratified several international conventions and enacted various national laws and policies, together with the establishment of the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the CNJ, Mozambique still faces the following challenges. Child Labour 438. The CRM was told that, from the age of 7, children are generally engaged in some form of work, especially household chores, agricultural activities and cattle herding. A distinction should be made between child work (including household chores that are not detrimental to their wellbeing and education) and child labour for commercial purposes, which is considered detrimental to children. The CRM was informed that there are two categories of children engaged in labour: those who are given labour by their parents, and those who are forced into child labour through prevailing situations, such as the loss of a parent due to HIV/Aids. For the former category of children, work assigned by the parents is part of the child’s home training and contribution to the family’s livelihood. Children in the latter category seek work and are employed so that they can survive on their own and escape being destitute in society. Street Children 439. According to 2002 estimates, the number of street children in Mozambique ranges between 3 500 and 4 500. 32 The phenomenon of street children is mainly a result of the civil war that ended in 1992, which displaced people into cities, without tangible work. When displaced people produce children, for whom they are unable to care, such children find their way onto the streets. Others have been orphaned due to HIV/Aids. The CRM was told that there are two categories of street children. The first is orphaned children and displaced 32 Consortium for Street Children (CSC). 2002. Report of the Civil Society Forum for East and Southern Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street Children, 11–13 February 2002. Nairobi: CSC. 151