Activities to mark the 2012 Day of the African Child are on in Douala.

Several children across Douala are at the centre of focus this week. Ahead of the Day of the African Child on June 16 on the theme “Rights of disabled children,” the Ministry of Social Affairs and civil society organisations are holding a series of activities for street, disabled, orphaned and vulnerable children.

Some 55 street children listened to lectures on “Rights of the child and vulnerable children” organised by the Collective of Women for the Protection of the Child and Environment (COFEPRE) in Bonanjo. The objective was to create awareness on children’s rights, involve them in the defence of their rights and spur parents and the society to do same.

As a social problem, it is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the phenomenon because of its wide spread. Poverty, the underlying factor, more widespread in rural areas, has a more negative impact in Douala than in other cities of the country. Other factors include changing family conditions, breakup of the family as a result of the absence of some parents due to divorce, abandonment, imprisonment or death.

Unemployment and the absence of step-parents caused Benjamin Emi Ngamen, 20, to become a street child. For 5 years, he has been picking and recycling used bottles, occasionally sleeping in the open and going without food most of the time. He has not found anyone to help transport him back to Garoua, his hometown. He needs counsel and protection.

The impact of orphanhood in society is evidenced by the growing number of children living in the streets exposed to various abuses. With the burden of poverty, families and communities cannot cope with the increasing number of these children. A local street children’s association, Cercle des Enfants Authentiques de la Rue (CEAR) disclosed that it faces the challenge of paying for medical services, providing trades like sewing, carpentry and hygiene care. “We need residential help for rehabilitation,” said Epee John, 23.