For our annual conference this year, we would like the CSC Network’s help to ensure we cover the areas that are most important for your organisation, and the work that you are doing with street-connected children and young people.
The focus of this year’s conference will be on the COVID-19 pandemic. We will be discussing our longer term strategies and analysis as well as reflecting on how we have managed in the first wave of the emergency. We welcome any ideas and proposals for specific topics, suggestions, and what you would like to be addressed within this focus.
If you would be interested in proposing a speaker or session, or running a session yourself within the themes we have outlined (please see below or click here for details), get in touch with Jess today by emailing jessica@streetchildren.org.
Please note that this year’s conference will be entirely digital.
For any proposal, we would encourage you to think creatively about the format the session might take – a workshop, anecdotal-based presentations, a panel etc. – and how participants can engage, such as through the chat function or using an interactive whiteboard. If you have ideas about what you would like to cover, but are not sure how it would work remotely, please contact us and we can help you to think about options.
During the conference, there will be 6 sessions in total, running for a maximum of 1.5 hours each:
Monday 2 November
Morning – 2 sessions
Afternoon – 2 sessions
Tuesday 3 November
Morning – 2 sessions
Afternoon – AGM from 1pm BST
Please send us your suggestions by Monday 21 September to give us time to work with you on shaping the session ahead of the conference.
Our conference themes are:
Session 1: Vulnerabilities and street-connected children during COVID-19
This session will explore the impact the pandemic has had so far on the lives and rights of street-connected children and on their pre-existing vulnerabilities. This could include, for example, looking at their vulnerability to ill-health, the economic implications of government measures such as curfews and lockdowns, and the impact on access to food and other basic needs. We are keen that this session is approached from the perspective of street-connected children’s experiences of the pandemic and how it has impacted on their rights, as well as what it means more specifically for implementation of the General Comment 21.
Session 2: Discrimination, street children and the pandemic
In this session we would like to explore how the pandemic has exacerbated the ways street connected children are already discriminated against, the ways the pandemic has exposed discrimination in their lives and what the pandemic has brought to light in terms of policy discrimination against them. As with session 1, we are keen that this session is approached from the perspective of street connected children’s experiences of the pandemic and how it has impacted on their rights, as well as what it means more specifically for implementation of the General Comment 21.
Session 3: Responses and consequences: policy
This session will explore how governmental stakeholders have responded to the pandemic, and the impact this has had – both positive and negative – on street-connected children. It will consider different policy responses; how policy makers have responded to the pandemic, what laws, policies and measures have been introduced by governments that affect the rights and lives of street-connected children and what new laws and policies have been introduced to address the needs of street children. In particular, we would like to look at what lessons have been learnt from previous epidemics, in particular Ebola, and other crises, and how these lessons have been applied to or are featured in responses to the pandemic.
Session 4: Responses and consequences: practice
We would like this session to explore how non-governmental stakeholders have responded to the pandemic, and the impact this has had – both positive and negative – on street-connected children. In particular, it will consider how NGOs and other practitioners have responded to the pandemic, what challenges practitioners have faced and what stories of challenges and success can be shared. Child-led responses and ways in which street children have been part of the design and implementation of responses will also be a focal part of this session.
Session 5: Looking beyond the pandemic
Session 5 will look beyond the pandemic in terms of the challenges and opportunities it has created for street-connected children and our work with them in the future. We see this as an opportunity to change the landscape of how we work with and advocate for the rights of street-connected children, and would like this session to explore the policy and practice opportunities that have been created by the pandemic.
Session 6: The future of the sector
Looking forward, this last session will consider what the role is for the sector in the future, and how we can capitalise on opportunities and challenges and work together to improve things for street-connected children as we move beyond the pandemic. It will consider how we can respond to lessons learned and what is needed from research, advocacy, policy and practice?
For any questions or to submit your proposal, please email jessica@streetchildren.org.