US helps street kids
US helps street kids Yemen Times Staff The International Program for the Elimination Child Labor (IPEC), with funding from the US Department of Labor, opened a child rehabilitation center for working street children in 2003.
The center is currently training 150 children. Over 1,500 children have participated in the IPEC program.
The center provides back to school services, health programs, and remedial and vocational training for male students.
There is a plan to open such a center for girls in the future.
The center also assists students’ siblings by supplying school uniforms, healthcare, and back-to-school supplies.
It employs seven social workers and several teachers and focuses on reducing the number of hours worked by children and returning them to school. There are an estimated 4,000 street kids in Sana’a alone.
Most children in cities work selling products at intersections, and in hotels, restaurants, and vegetable stands.
