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

Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children

Kingdom of Norway [ Country-by-Country Reports ]

The Kingdom of Norway, a N European constitutional monarchy, occupies the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula [map]. Extending from the Skagerrak, which it borders in the south, northeast to North Cape and Vardø on the Barents Sea in the extreme northeast, the country forms a narrow mountainous strip along the North Sea in the southwest and in the Norwegian Sea. It has a long land frontier with Sweden (E) and with Finland and Russia (NE). Oslo is its capital and largest city. The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil production and international oil prices, with oil and gas accounting for one-third of exports.

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

CHILDREN - The government was strongly committed to children's rights and welfare; it amply funded systems of education and medical care.

The government provides free education for children through the postsecondary level. Education is compulsory for 10 years, or through the tenth grade; most children stay in school at least until the age of 18. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported a school attendance rate of 100 percent in 2004.

Committee Concluding Observations - Overview Of Street Children Issues [DOC]

There is no mention of street children in the state report.

Finding Jewels In The Gutter

ARNE SKARPSNO AND HIS WIFE, GERD, HAVE SPENT ELEVEN YEARS MAKING MEALS AND DISTRIBUTING THEM TO THOSE LIVING ON THE STREETS OF OSLO, NORWAY - AND HAVE  FOUND A SOURCE OF LOVE LIKE NO OTHER - Eleven years ago pensioner Arne Skarpsno discovered that while institutions were closed for the summer many drug addicts, glue-sniffers, prostitutes, alcoholics and other homeless people were actually starving on the streets of Oslo. The impulse to do something was strong. Other people went off on holiday, but Arne and his wife Gerd put their camping table and lots of home-made sandwiches in the car and drove to a place in the city where addicts usually hang out.

Homelessness in Norway

A REPORT ON INCREASING HOMELESSNESS IN NORWAY, CAUSES AND ATTEMPTS TO STEM THE TIDE AGAINST ENTRENCHED SOCIAL/POLITICAL INDIFFERENCE - About 61 per cent of the homeless are drug or alcohol addicts while 21 per cent have a mental illness which needs treatment. Like the trend in many other countries, psychiatric services have seen their capacity to cope greatly reduced in the last 10-15 years. Again, as in many countries, the voluntary sector and charities are picking up the pieces that governmental welfare services cannot deal with.

Child Poverty in Rich Countries 2005

Children face challenges everywhere, even in industrialized and wealthy countries which have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There is wide diversity across OECD countries and only four countries decreased the child poverty rate in the 90s, Norway being the best example. The factors governing this situation vary in each country, but the report stresses that higher government spending on family and social benefits is clearly associated with lower child poverty rates.

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