Human Trafficking in  [Cameroon]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Cameroon]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Cameroon]  [other countries]
 

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

Republic of Cameroon                                                               [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Cameroon [map] is located in W central Africa and is bordered by the Gulf of Guinea (SW), on the northwest by Nigeria (NW), by Chad (NE), by the Central African Republic (SE), and on the south by Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.  Yaoundé is its capital, and Douala is the largest city and main port.  Cameroon is a country afflicted by pervasive poverty and rising infant and under-five mortality rates. Some 51 per cent of the population live below the poverty line and poverty has an increasingly feminine face, affecting women in particular. An estimated 56 per cent of the population is under 20 years of age.

 

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Cameroon.  Some of these links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false.  No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content.

Quick Search for Missing Children - Select Gender, Country (Cameroon), and Years Missing

UNICEF - The Big Picture

U.S. Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - According to a study conducted in 2000 by the ILO, the Ministry of Labor, and NGOs, children in Cameroon work in the agricultural sector; in informal activities, such as street vending and car washing; as domestic servants; in prostitution; and in other illicit activities.  The ILO has found that 7 percent of working children in the cities of Yaounde, Douala, and Bamenda were less than 12 years of age, and 60 percent of these had dropped out of primary school.  During school vacation, street children reportedly work to earn money for school.

Bur of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor - Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005

CHILDREN - Although exact numbers were unavailable, the country had a significant number of displaced or street children, most of whom resided in urban areas such as Yaounde and Douala.

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2001

[62] The Committee expresses its concern at the increasing number of street children and at the lack of specific mechanisms to address this situation and to provide these children with adequate assistance.

[63] The Committee recommends …

Pickpockets Invade Yaounde Streets

Taxi drivers are the target of the new breed of bandits.  Its 10:30 am in Yaounde. The famous Avenue Kennedy is as busy as usual. Teponno Martin, (49) a taxi driver in Yaounde, finds it difficult to collect pick up passengers. He can barely hear the destinations of passengers because all the car windows are winded up. It is normal. There are pick pockets around. He recounts that he has been a victim of robbery twice. In the first incident, the sum of CFA 5000 was stolen from his vehicle. According to him, the children surround the vehicle and use tactics to distract the driver and before he knows it, they have made away with any thing they can lay hands on.

Street Children On The Increase In Douala

CRIME WAVE - If the authorities are getting worried about the increase in the number of street children, it is because of the rising crime wave in the city, involving many street children. These children mostly hang out in the busy commercial streets of Akwa during the day and sleep at the corridors of the commercial buildings in the night.

Street children are said to mostly start off as 'pick pockets'. With time, they gain more and more experience, and eventually move into big robbery operations. Most of those who grow to start participating in big banditry operations are said to leave the street for hotels, or put up with women.

PMUC Stays With Street Children

The General Manager of Pari Mutuel Urbain Camerounais, PMUC, Jean-Dominique Casamarta, recently reassured the management of Foyers Saint-Nicodème, a chain of homes for children taken off the streets in Douala, of the company’s support.The re-assurance was manifested by the signing of another annual convention with Foyers Saint-Nicodème.

Samuel Ngnitedem - Association Emmanuel du Cameroon

THE PROBLEM - Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon, is estimated to have well over 1,000 street children, and another major city, Douala, has an even larger number. In virtually every major urban area, the problem of displaced children is becoming acute. Populations of "hidden" street children can be found living in groups under bridges, in abandoned buildings and even in open fields around Yaounde.

The Impact Of Home Background On The Decision Of Children To Run Away: the case of Yaounde City street children in Cameroon

OBJECTIVE: This study sets out to investigate the phenomenon of street children and its relationship to their home background. The project stemmed from the fact that there is an enormous increase of children nowadays roaming the streets.

Reports to Treaty Bodies - Committee on the Rights of the Child

Other points of concern included: the possible use of inter-country adoption for the purpose of trafficking; the increasing number of street children and the lack of specific mechanisms to address this situation and to provide these children with adequate assistance

How The Circus Came To Cameroon's Street Children1

Most of the young people come from underprivileged environments where violence is an everyday occurrence. They have found asylum on the streets, which have become home to them. But it's a dangerous kind of asylum.

Street Children In Cameroon

The streets of Cameroon are turning in to homes for some run away and abandoned children.  Many of these children are between the ages of 7-22.Some are out for business, selling stuffs on their own to make a living, while others are out for no good, just roaming the streets like cow boys.

Street Children and (AIDS)-Orphans project

4. PROJECT DESCRIPTION, OBJECTIVES:  THE OBJECTIVES OF THE SAFE HOUSE ARE -  Provide a safety zone for displaced children from the hours of 9:00 pm through 5:00 am. During these hours the building will be open and services provided to the children in need. This time frame has been chosen due to the fact that children on the streets are most at risk during this period.

1. The linked article has been taken down, moved or restricted

All material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use

 

 
Human Trafficking in  [Cameroon]  [other countries]
Street Children in  [Cameroon]  [other countries]
Child Prostitution in  [Cameroon]  [other countries]