Growing up on the Streets: building networks of knowledge exchange for delivering impact

街头儿童可能是城市环境中贫穷和边缘化的最明显迹象之一，但他们的权利往往得不到实现。此外，街头儿童缺乏正式代表，使他们置身于政策制定的舞台之外。他们不仅面临着多方面的问题，而且作为一个群体，他们很难定义。这既是因为他们与街头的关系，也是因为他们既是犯罪的受害者，又是犯罪者；他们的复杂性是他们难以捉摸的关键。此外，街头儿童的独立地位使他们置身于儿童保护领域之外，而儿童保护领域将儿童置于成年人的照料之下，这往往导致在没有成人代表的情况下获得服务的机会有限或无法获得。因此，他们在国际政策议程上被其他弱势群体取代，这些弱势群体的侵犯人权行为更容易受到遏制，比如性剥削或暴力的受害者，这引发了关于街头儿童的权利和需求是如何界定的以及由谁来界定的根本问题。然而，参与性研究现已被公认为是开始听到儿童声音的较成功的方式之一，这可用于为街头儿童参与决策和政策制定提供建议。因此，该项目的目的是通过研究知识交流(KE)解决街头儿童的政策差距。2012年建立了一个名为在街头长大的学术和实践者合作研究项目，在三年的时间里收集了来自三个不同非洲城市的198名街头儿童的纵向数据：津巴布韦的哈拉雷、加纳的阿克拉和刚果民主共和国的布卡武。此外，还采用了一种创新的参与式方法，让街头儿童在街头工人项目经理的指导下，积极参与他们自己的研究，以探索他们在街头的能力。研究结果构成了KE项目的证据基础，该项目旨在弥合当前立法和政治态度与街头儿童现实之间的差距。KE项目在四个阶段实现了七个目标。第一阶段发展街头青年参与从开始到政策制定的研究过程。这旨在将街头儿童的意见作为提供服务的常规部分。第二阶段发展从业人员的参与和能力，办法是举办讲习班，传播研究的关键信息，并建立一个同行网络，最初在非洲各地，供从业人员通过一个在线论坛进行讨论和分享。该网络旨在发展能力并分享最佳做法，以便更好地向街头儿童提供服务。阶段3建立在其他阶段的基础上，专门针对政策差距。在非洲和联合王国举办了一系列研讨会/活动，邀请政府机构、联合国成员和其他主要利益攸关方参加，目的是提高对研究结果的认识，制定政策建议，并寻求将其转化为具体行动。公众参与也是提高对街头儿童权利的认识的一项关键战略。最后，第四阶段包括在所有其他阶段进行反思评估的过程，以确保其有效性。该项目的成果力求直接惠及：街头儿童，让他们参与数据分析和政策对话，并为街头儿童从一开始到政策制定的研究过程提供非政府组织培训；非政府组织，建立网络中心和面对面的讲习班，分享最佳做法；政策利益攸关方(政府、捐助者、国际非政府组织、联合国机构)，通过将研究的关键信息转化为政策建议，有可能倡导直接改变国家和国际政策。

Street children are perhaps one of the most visible signs of poverty and marginalization in urban environments, yet their rights are often not realized. Furthermore, street children lack formal representation placing them outside the arena of policy development. Not only do they face multi-faceted problems but as a group they are difficult to define. This is both in terms of their relationship to the street and their status as both victims and perpetrators of crime; their complexity is key to their elusiveness. In addition, street children's independent status positions them outside the realms of child protection which places children under the care of adults, often resulting in limited or no access to services without adult representation. Therefore they have been replaced on the international policy agenda by other vulnerable groups whose human rights violations are much more easily pinned down, such as victims of sexual exploitation or violence, raising fundamental questions around how street children's rights and needs are defined and by whom? However, participatory research is now becoming recognized as one of the more successful ways in which children's voices are beginning to be heard and this can be utilised to offer advice for the inclusion of street children in decision-making and policy development.The aim of this project is therefore to address the policy gap for street children through research knowledge exchange (KE). An academic-practitioner collaborative research project called Growing up on the Streets was established in 2012 collecting longitudinal data over a three year period with 198 street children from three diverse African cities: Harare, Zimbabwe; Accra, Ghana; and Bukavu, DRC. In addition an innovative participatory approach has been adopted whereby street children are actively engaged in undertaking their own research, under the mentorship of street worker project managers, to explore their capabilities on the streets. The findings from the research forms the evidence-base for this KE project which seeks to bridge the gap between current legislation and political attitudes, and street children's realities. The KE project has seven objectives fulfilled over four phases. Phase 1 develops street young people's participation in the research process from inception to policy development. This aims to include street children's views as a regular part of service provision. Phase 2 develops practitioner participation and capacity through the development of workshops that disseminate key messages from the research as well as through establishing a peer network, initially across Africa, for practitioners to discuss and share through an online forum. This network aims to develop capacity and share best practice for the better provision of services to street children. Phase 3 builds on the others for specifically targeting the policy gap. A series of workshops/events in Africa and the UK, inviting Government agencies, UN members and other key stakeholders aims to raise awareness of the research findings, develop policy recommendations and seek to translate them into concrete actions. Public engagement also forms a key strategy for raising awareness for street children's rights. Finally phase 4 includes a process of reflective evaluation during all other phases to ensure their effectiveness. The outcomes of the project seek to offer direct benefit: to street children, by involving them in data analysis and policy dialogue as well as creating NGO training for street children's inclusion in the research process from inception to policy development; to NGOs, by developing a network hub and face-to-face workshops for sharing best practice; and to policy stakeholders (Governments, Donors, International NGOs, UN agencies) through the translation of key messages from the research into policy recommendations with the potential to advocate for direct changes to national and international policy.