CHARACTERISTICS OF STREET CHILDREN IN NAZARETH, ETHIOPIA

A census based survey was conducted in Nazareth, a town in south-easte rn Ethiopia, to determine the number and background of the street chil dren, in December 1994, 5138 street children were counted in the town during a one day census. 4626(90%) were males and 512(10%) were female s, The age ranged from 5 to 18 with mean age of 12.9(SD=3.16). 312(52. 3%) of the children left their families before their tenth birthday, 1 09(18.3%) were attending school at the time of the survey, 326(54.6%) of the children were ''on'' the street type with a house to sleep in a t night and 271(45.4%) were ''of'' the street type and completely home less, 530(88.8%) of the children had at least one of their parents ali ve, Most of the street children take odd jobs to earn a living, Only 7 6(12.7%) were found to be living on begging, From this study it was co ncluded that the number of street children was very high, and explorat ion of opportunities to rehabilitate the children who still have their families alive is recommended.