Estimation and Characteristics of Urban Street Children in Georgia

The Urban Street Children Study in Georgia, with joint support from USAID and UNICEF, has been carried out by Save the Children in collaboration with a multitude of state, non-governmental and academic actors. The research included four large urban centers in Georgia: Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi and Batumi.

The locations were determined through discussions with several stakeholders, based on a preliminary street children mapping exercise conducted by Save the Children in 2006. Key in
formants reported that the highest observed numbers of street children were in these four cities.

This study is the first comprehensive assessment of street children ever done in Georgia and sets a unique precedent as few such studies have been carried out anywhere in the world. The research aimed to provide estimated numbers of street children in the four target urban locations and describe their characteristics so that evidence-based policy and programmatic recommendations could be drawn. The study used a three stage approach:
a) pre-surveillance Time-Location Mapping;
b) quantitative Point-Count Estimate;
c) face-to-face interviewing.
All three stages were implemented during the three months of June, September and November of 2007. Data entry and cleaning and data analysis took place in February/March of 2008.

To establish the study population, “street children” were defined as children 0 to 18 years of age (narrowed down to 8 to 18 years’ age range for interviews) who were observed in the street. “Street children” in centers, shelters or other types of institutions were not included in this study.
Overall, the Point-Count Estimate revealed there was an average of 1,049 street children in the four cities in November 2007, with a maximum estimate of about 1,600 children. In general, street children in urban Georgia are primarily boys, 5 to 14 years of age, who mostly sustain themselves by begging. They are on the street mainly during daylight hours without an accompanying adult, although most of them have at least one parent and other relative(s) alive.

The study reveals that street children in Georgia are a manifestation of numerous socio-economic problems vulnerable children and their families face in the country, rather than a stand-alone phenomenon. An interesting observation can be made by analyzing the length of
time children have spent on the street. Almost 40% of street children have been on the streets for more than three years. One could assume that these children began their street careers before or around the time of the Rose Revolution in 2003 when the Georgian population at large was suffering from a disastrous socio-economic situation. However, there are fewer (only one-quarter) street children who claim to have been on the streets for two to three years – since the early years after the Rose Revolution. As many authors indicate, this can be attributed to the renewed sense of hope the revolution brought the Georgian people. Nevertheless, the numbers of children who have been on the streets for one year or less are again high, reaching the pre-Rose Revolution levels. This growth reflects a general situation in Georgia where poverty has been increasing in the past few years and the impressive economic growth in the country has had little or adverse effect on enhancing the living standards for the majority of Georgians. In addition, the overall mood of the population has significantly worsened.