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

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

Republic of Latvia [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Latvia [map] is located in, north central Europe. It is bordered by Estonia (N), by Lithuania (S), by the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Riga (W), by Russia (E), and by Belarus (SE). Riga is the capital and largest city. Latvia has a child population of 560,000 out of a total of around 2.4 million inhabitants.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Latvia. 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 (Latvia), and Years Missing

UNICEF - The Big Picture

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

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - The number of children not attending primary school is increasing. In 1997, the Ministry of Education and Science had a record of 1,311 children ages 5 to 15 who were not attending school. According to the Education Ministry’s annual report, 2,512 children did not attend school in 2002.

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

CHILDREN - Abandonment and child abuse, including sexual abuse, were common.

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – Women, including well‑educated women, homeless teens, and minors graduating from orphanage boarding schools, were among those most at risk to be trafficked.

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

[49] The Committee expresses its concern at the significant number of children living in the streets. It notes that even though the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child covers children living in the street, no specific mechanisms have been established for its implementation and that assistance to the children living in the streets is generally provided only by non-governmental organizations.

Street Children In Latvia: Problems And Solutions

Although Latvia's laws protect the rights of all children, they have proved inadequate for dealing with the problem of street children. The question is whether this situation can be changed in a way that is financially and administratively feasible.

Soros Foundation Latvia - Program Description

Over the course of four years the Soros Foundation Latvia took significant steps toward dealing with the problem of street children by creating an NGO network, setting up an information resource center, and organizing a series of training workshops for NGOs. As a result of the activities of the NGO network, at the end of 2000, 13 organizations founded the NGO Association for Street Children (ASC). The organization’s goal is to form a powerful, functional and influential association that can provide comprehensive support to NGOs that are involved in seeking solutions to the problem of street children and shaping state policy that would help resolve this social problem on a state level.

Summary of Received Grants in Latvia in 2004¹

YOUTH INTEREST CENTER TO SUPPORT, TO EDUCATE AND TO MOTIVATE IN LIEPAJA - Involvement in attractive activities has to be offered to those children and society’s attention has to be drawn to the necessity of solving this problem. During the project the street children will create short films about themselves, which later on will be displayed in schools and on Television. The school children and students will then be asked to come up with ideas about solving the problem. The relevant discussions will be held in schools, internet and solutions will be drafted, for submission to the Commission for Youth Affairs of the Liepaja City council and for publication in media.

ELCL Diaconia Center - Day Center For Street Children

OBJECTIVES AND AIMS OF THE DAY CENTER - To provide children with: Meals one time a day / Possibility to wash themselves / First medical aid

DONATIONS AND OUR NEEDS - VHS video tape player / sewing-machine / schoolbags / child winter closes / child shoes / elementary school books / copybooks / stationery / Food / Medicines / hygiene goods / Household goods including dishes, tableware, detergents and disinfectants

World Childhood Foundation Projects in Russia and the Baltic States

LATVIA - Livslust runs a combined home/school for adolescents who have spent most of their lives in orphanages and other institutions. Livslust's objective is to prepare the children for a life on their own. The children are offered vocational training (carpentry, agriculture, sewing, construction work and cooking) as well as social training.

The Littlest Victims of Global 'Progress'

The children show up in Riga's quaintly restored old town in the late afternoon. None looks older than about 7. Among a group of four boys, one has no socks and all wear only light sweaters, despite the cold in northern Europe. With their hands outstretched, the boys trail people leaving Latvia's new privatized hotels, boutiques and restaurants. Late at night, they loiter under the bright lights of a new casino. Both Latvian and Russian children now beg on Riga's streets.

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