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Mr. Amod K. Kanth, as a Keynote speaker, in an International Pediatrics Association conference organised by IIPH

Mr. Amod K. Kanth, General Secretary, Prayas JAC participated in the International Pediatrics Association conference along with Ahmedabad Prayas JAC Manager, Mr. Inderjeet Chauhan and other support staff members of Prayas, was organised at the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH). This IPA Conference, Gandhinagar, 2023, was hosted  in India after nearly 45 years gap. One of the most important sessions in the IAP happens to be the Street and Working Children, in which Mr. Kanth has delivered the keynote speech, which was followed by further talks and discussions. Among others Mr. Dilip Mavlankar, the Director of the IIPH & the Global and Indian leaders of the IPA & IAP (Indian Academy of Pediatricians) are participating with Mr. Kanth. IAP has a membership of 40,000 doctors- whom Mr. Kanth has strongly exhorted to provide at least 2 hours a week for the 35 million deprived, homeless, street & working children of India. Dr. Naveen Thacker, President elect of the International Association of Pediatricians, worked for Prayas for several years and looked after the Gujarat chapter. Dr. Kiran Agarwal, who had introduced him to Prayas 22 years back when we set up Sneh Prayas Chapter of Gujarat. Sir is together in the conference.

Street children are one of the most vulnerable groups of urban poor. They face difficulties while living in the streets, and they also develop their own ways to overcome such difficulties. They have some common characteristics with the urban poor in general, but they still have their own different characteristics that distinguish them from other urban poor groups.

There are many definitions for street children, but the definition introduced by Inter-NGO Program covers important dimensions:

“Any girl or boy, for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, including unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible adults.”

South Asia is home to about 627 million children under 18 years of age - approximately 36 percent of the total population of 1.82 billion.