The ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare has set August 30 as dateline to have all street connected children re-integrated back to their families. 

The line minister, Patricia Kaliati, made the commitment as part of efforts to ensuring that children in the streets are protected from COVID-19 pandemic.

The previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led government, also made similar commitments through the same ministry, which was also being headed by Kaliati, but the initiative failed to materialize.

The fresh promise by the minister comes as the country’s registered cases of COVID-19 are rising at an alarming rate a development which puts the lives of the children in the street at risk.

Kaliati said: “With COVID-19 we can’t protect our children and the persons with disability when they are still in the streets so the only way is firstly to re-integrate them back to their families.”

She added that children from poor families will be listed on the government cash transfer program to ensure that they are supported and keep them from going back into the streets to seek for alms.

“If it’s an issue to do with poverty, then government will include them in the cash transfer program so that they can be supported in terms of food, school fees and other necessities,” assured the minister.

She however, warned all the would-be beneficiaries of the cash transfer initiative to put the money they are going to receive into proper use or else risk being withdrawn from the program.