Gender and Development

Indonesia: Supporting Girl Street Children

The number of street children increased almost four-fold in Indonesia's urban areas after the Asian Financial Crisis. A 1999 survey of 12 cities found that girls make up 20 percent of Indonesia's estimated 170,000 street children. Yet, programs for street children have often concentrated on boys. The survey also found that the majority of female street children are between the ages of 4 and 18. Recognizing that girl street children are exposed to greater risk of sexual exploitation and extremely vulnerable to falling victim of unfortunate circumstances, ADB prepared a project targeted at supporting girl street children. The Project focuses on problems of sexual abuse, teenage prostitution, and teenage pregnancythrough provision of nonformal education and integrated health services for girl street children.

Social services aimed at protecting street children are pivotal to the human rights and well-being of the girl child. Supported by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, ADB's Assisting Girl Street Children at Risk of Sexual Abuse is linked to two ADB program loans on social protection and health and nutrition.

The Project assisted more than 950 girl street children at risk of sexual abuse through a series of activities. A referral system among NGOs and government agencies was established to work with girl street children. Three NGO sub-networks were also established and focused on health, violence against women, and education. Specific interventions included:

• Support and counseling programs;
• Delivery of health care, including pre and post-natal care for young mothers and treatment of sexually transmitted infections;
• Improvement of facilities (or safe-houses) for pregnant girls;
• Skills training; and
• Scholarships for vocational trainings.

As a result of these interventions, the number of girl street children in the target group was reduced significantly from 724 to 300 over a period of 3 years. The Project concluded in 2006. For additional information, contact Ayun Sundari, Indonesia Resident Mission.