Securing the future: 42 street children united with families in Peshawar

Most children came from Bajaur and Kurram agencies, Swat, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar.

PESHAWAR: NGO workers, bus stand employees and police collaborated in Peshawar to unite 42 street children from the city to their families in the past three months.

The homeless children were found by workers of The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) who took them to the NGO’s drop-in centre in Peshawar’s Sikandar Town, according to a SPARC press release.

Most children came from Bajaur Agency, Swat, Kurram Agency, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Peshawar.

The organisation was helped by local civil society members, bus stands’ administration, police child protection centres and child protection units. SPARC’s district child rights committees, which operate in over 50 districts of Pakistan, also participated.

The parents were asked to give assurances that they will not punish the children for leaving home. The families were also educated on child rights and risks.