DAR ES SALAAM: THE Tanzanian government has stressed the need for cooperation from society and citizens in general in the fight to curb street children, noting that the battle can be won if fought at the family level.
The Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups, Dorothy Gwajima made the call when addressing the media today, December, 22,2025, in Dar es Salaam noting that parents and guardians should be at the forefront to report any signs of rebellion, serious arguments with parents to authorities to intervene and save the child before they get out of hand.
“If a child begins to show worrying signs, being uncooperative or having serious misunderstandings with parents, and this is reported early, we can intervene, but correcting a child after they have already entered street life is very costly. They may have been raped, sexually abused, introduced to drugs, or deceived in many ways, making rehabilitation becomes extremely difficult,” she stated.
She added,“We are policymakers and guideline developers, but without the help of citizens to jointly implement measures to address the issue of street children, we will not succeed.”
Moreover, the minister mentioned various strategies of the ministry in addressing the challenge of street children, which include identifying them while they are still at home to rehabilitate them early.
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“And if that fails, we determine the appropriate development and welfare channel for them. There are also children’s shelters where we take care of those who cannot be managed at home, so that we can rehabilitate them properly,” she said.
Additionally, Dr Gwajima stated that another strategy the government is taking is to see that if a child goes missing and at home parents or guardians have not filed any missing report or tried to inform any authority, legal actions will be taken against the parent in accordance with the Child Act and require them to explain where they sent the child.
According to the minister, the ministry will only implement its strategies effectively if the community cooperates by reporting when a child goes missing by calling the toll-free number, 116, using the announced contact numbers, or reporting to a social welfare officer or local government leaders for appropriate actions to be taken.
“Ideally, when a parent sees that a child has run away and gone to the streets, they are supposed to report the child missing to the police. But people do not report this; when a child disappears, they see it as normal, but we have seen cases when a chicken or a goat goes missing, the whole neighborhood stays awake, but when it’s a child, people think it’s normal,” she said.
Furthermore, the minister noted that there is a committee that deals with issues of controlling children who live and work on the streets, chaired by the Commissioner for Social Welfare and that through a special program to identify children living in high-risk environments, between 2022 and 2025 a total of 27,065 children were identified out of which 16,233 are girls and 10,832 boys.
“But once they are identified, where are they taken? They are referred to various social services for empowerment: vocational training institutions, adult education and assessments of their abilities to engage in work, after which some are directed into business-related activities. Others need legal assistance and are linked to legal aid services. Some are returned to their families after undergoing counseling and behavioral rehabilitation,” she said.
However, she stressed the need for parents to play their part in maintaining children who are returned home by being a good example of morality so that they do not run back to the streets.
“When they return home, it is often found that parents have already separated, and the child ends up in the care of others and eventually returns to the streets. In other cases parent themselves may be engaged in excessive alcohol abuse and fail to provide proper care, resulting in the child going back to the streets,” she said.