The Government has rolled out a couple of new measures designed to rehabilitate and reintegrate street children back into communities.

The measures are part of a multipronged strategy that includes two parallel initiatives through which the National Rehabilitation Service (NRS) is hoping to rehabilitate, reunite street children with their families and enrol them in school.

The two initiatives were simultaneously launched in Bugesera District last week and the plan is to rehabilitate an estimated 2000 street children across the country, according to Aime Bosenibamwe, the NRS director-general.

Thirty-one reunited with families

The move, officials said, seeks to provide a sustainable solution to the issue of street children, help raise law-abiding and productive citizens, check delinquency and improve children’s welfare.

The first initiative, Bosenibamwe said, seeks to take former street children from rehabilitation centres back to their families and to school. The second, he said, focuses on taking street children to rehabilitation centres for three months before reuniting them with their families and enrolling them in school.

At rehabilitation centres, former street children train in civic education, vocational skills, and life skills, among others.

Together, the twin initiatives target to rehabilitate and reintegrate 300 children every quarter (three months).

‘Children should be in school, not on streets’

During the launch of the new effort on Thursday, 31 street children were immediately reunited with their families across all the 15 sectors of Bugesera District. The youngest of them was 10 years old while the oldest was aged 16.  

The new effort is a demonstration of government’s commitment to rehabilitate all street children and give them the chance of a decent life, Nyirarukundo Ignatienne, the state minister in charge of Social Affairs, said at the launch.

 "We want to build a country free of street children, our children should be in school, not on streets,” she said.

She challenged school administrators to keep track of their students.

"We expect schools to closely monitor their students and to impart discipline and life skills to them,” she said, adding that when children drop out schools should follow up and inform local leaders.