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

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

Republic of Lithuania [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Republic of Lithuania [map] is located in N central Europe and is bordered by the Baltic Sea (W), Latvia (N), Belarus (E & SE), Poland (S), and the Kaliningrad oblast (a Russian exclave; formerly East Prussia) (SW). Vilnius is its capital and largest city. Lithuania has a child population of approximately one million.

CAUTION:  The following links and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Lithuania. 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.

UNICEF - The Big Picture

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

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - In November 2001, an interdepartmental task force was established to develop a strategy to address the problem of neglected children and street children.

INCIDENCE AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - Statistics on the number of working children under the age of 15 years in Lithuania are unavailable. Children are reported to beg on the streets or perform odd jobs, such as cleaning cars or selling newspapers.

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

CHILDREN - Several thousand children reportedly lived on the street. Sixty regional government children's rights protection agencies, other institutions, and numerous NGOs routinely assisted these children. Street children had full access to government sponsored free services. There were no reports of police abuse of street children.

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

[49] The Committee is concerned at the reported increasing use of drugs, including psychotropic substances, among children and adolescents in the State party, in particular those living in the street. Further it notes that the present welfare service system is unable to deal with the growing need for services.

[51] The Committee expresses its concern at the number of children living and working in the streets and notes that the programs and mechanisms established to assist them are not sufficient.

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) Concluding Observations

22. The Committee is concerned about the problem of street children in the State party as well as the lack of information about children placed in institutions.

44. The Committee urges the State party to combat the phenomenon of street children as a matter of priority. In this regard, the State party should take effective measures to address the root causes of neglect, abuse and abandonment, particularly through increased assistance to families with children. It also requests the State party to provide in its second periodic report detailed information and up-to-date comparative statistics on this issue.

ISHR Lithuania - Annual Report 2001¹

THE MAIN ACTIVITIES – [3] Children having problems in families or collected from the streets are provided with accommodation in a shelter, arranged with financial support of Swedish government, commodities and clothes comes from Wittlich IFGM charity. Due to the efforts taken by the public offices, society and volunteers during a few years the number of homeless and the "street children" was significantly diminished.

Committee on the Rights of the Child - Reports by States - 2001

LITHUANIA (INITIAL REPORT) - Other areas of concern included the lack of sufficient mechanisms to assist street children, long periods of pre-trial detention for juvenile offenders, increases in alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse by children, and high rates of child morbidity and deaths due to trauma and accidents.

Street Children Football, Lithuania

OBJECTIVES - To protect children’s rights To implement national crime prevention program To organize cultural, educational work To give an opportunity for children to spend free-time purposefully

The Gift to Lithuania Conference

A CHILD’S GATE TO LEARNING - Child’s Gate to Learning supports efforts already under way in Lithuania that work with street children.  These projects encourage children to leave their street lives for more purposeful activities.  Various fun outings are organized for them; they learn crafts, they learn to play on a team through sports.  Most importantly, they have returned to school.  The support they receive, along with the activities, assure the children and adolescents that someone cares; it gives them a sense of purpose to outweigh the hard lives many of them have at home with alcoholic or otherwise troubled parents.  The underlying goal is to impress upon them that their future success is better ensured by continuing their education.

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