The Faculty of Education at USAL held a seminar celebrating the Convention on the Rights of the Child during which it hosted Mrs. Sima Mouawia, Head of Street Children Program launched by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Mrs. Mouawia talked about facts related to street children in Lebanon pertinent to their geographical distribution, nationalities, ages and living conditions.

She also displayed the projects carried out by the ministry to tackle this issue in accordance with the most recent international approaches in order to preserve children’s rights, most important of which is the Safe Space project that has been launched recently.

Mrs. Mouawia confirmed that any person who wishes to help street children mustn’t give them money, and that was explicitly stated in the awareness campaign organized by the ministry “You are not helping him, you are rather helping in exploiting him”.

Students posed several questions about the role of state bodies and the various procedures relevant to different age groups.

By the end of this seminar, it was agreed that students of the Faculty of Education will volunteer in the programs pertaining to the education and guidance of street children organized by the ministry.