9.5 Protection of children living on the streets 425. In 2012, a survey conducted by Street Child Sierra Leone estimated that there were 49,000 children (2 percent of all children) in Sierra Leone living on the streets in regional and district centres. The phenomenon of street children in Sierra Leone is highly visible and has been growing over the past years especially in district headquarter towns which is experiencing high rates of urbanization. 426. Street children are routinely exposed to various forms of violence, exploitation and abuse and struggle to access basic services for their survival, development, protection and participation in issues that affect their development. Street children are often involved in worst forms of child labour, are usually without shelter; girls are frequently involved in transactional sex, are exposed to illicit use and trafficking of narcotic drugs and are vulnerable to trafficking rape and victimization from police and adults on the streets. Often they are forced to beg for families. The protection of street children is a critical challenge for Government and communities in Sierra Leone. 427. The problems of street children are varied and complex and have raised many concerns at national, regional and district levels. More than half of the cases of children in conflict with the law involve children on the streets. Interventions to address the growing problem of street children have largely been ad hoc and uncoordinated. In many cases development of the interventions have not been guided by evidence. Also the interventions lack the capacity to effectively and holistically assist children living on the street, who have been identified as one of the most vulnerable groups of children. 428. There is a lack of information on the situation and characteristics of street children, as well as evidence of effective programming. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA) and local councils, which is responsible for child welfare and protection issues including street children, acknowledge that there is limited information available. The MSWGCA has identified street children as a priority area of concern. At the same time they also have limited capacities to respond to the scale of the problem: currently there are 42 social workers or one social worker to 1,150 street children. 429. Traditional community-based child protection mechanisms, such as Child Welfare Committees at chiefdom level, are overwhelmed by the scale and extent of the problem and have limited resources to provide the necessary services to respond to the complex myriad of challenges faced by street children. 430. The GoSL, with technical and logistical support from its implementing partners, including UNICEF and a consortium of NGOs including Family Homes Movement, St. George’s Foundation, Ben Hirsch, and Christian Brothers, DCI-SL, Street Child, GOAL-SL and Don Bosco in 2008/2009 supported national efforts to strengthen alternative care systems (including for street children) in Sierra Leone. 431. The MSWGCA strengthened the legal framework for street children through the development of the many policies and strategies referred to through the course of this report. These include Quality Care Standards for Children Living in Children’s Homes in 2009; the National Alternative Care Policy; the draft Child Welfare Policy awaiting cabinet approval in 2014. The Quality Care Standards for Children 110  Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone Initial Report on the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 2002-2014