180º Alliance = United Global Action with Street Children

180° – We stand for hope and transformation - a 180º change in direction from negative to positive, for the millions of street living and working children, their families, communities and societies.

United – We are a global alliance of Christian faith-based agencies and individuals who believe that by working together, we can have a greater and deeper impact on the future of children living and working on the streets across our world.

Global – We work with children living or working on the streets across countries, regions or the globe, and/or develop resources for use with street children globally.

Action – We aim to have a measurable impact on the world-wide phenomenon of street children through action.

We seek to raise the temperature of work with children living and working on the streets by multiplying impact through:

• Involving children
• Encouraging excellent service provision
• Mobilising more workers
• Incubating innovative approaches
• Advocating for the rights of the street child

With Street Children – The 180° Alliance views as vital the participation of children living and working on the streets, in transforming their situation and will seek to hear their voice and ensure they play an integral role in 180º.

180º Alliance has a new strategy for 2008-2009. Download it here: PDF

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A Brief History

It all began with a 'tongue-in-cheek' concept paper 'A Global Strategy with Street Children: A Footballers Guide to Tackling the Issues of Street Children', written in December 2004. The key issue identified was that while there were a number of global Christian faith-based networks on issues such as Child Sexual Exploitation, Trafficking, Drug Addiction and HIV/AIDS, there also needed to be a global "coming together" with Street Children.

It was noted that there is considerable expertise globally amongst practitioners working with Street Children and if you were to combine the total, there would be hundreds of years of experience between them all. It was argued that the challenge of reaching all the street children in the world is only realistic if this incredible resource is harnessed and the impact of each worker, project and organisation is multiplied.

This paper generated a lively debate which culminated in September 2005, with a group of street children experts from across the world meeting to discuss how they could work together to increase their impact globally. They shared a vision that no child should ever have to sleep on the streets and together they formed the 180° alliance.

At this meeting, a steering committee was formed and four working groups established. Currently these working groups are entitled: Accreditation, Resource Development, Research and Advocacy, and Innovation.

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180° Alliance Vision, Mission and Values

Vision

A world where children do not need to live on the street and can become all God intends

Mission

The 180º Alliance exists to multiply the impact of work with street children by creating a united coalition involving the children themselves to: address causes; identify and replicate best practice; support existing member projects; access resources; mobilise new work and advocate with and on behalf of street children.

Values

• Action
  • We aim to have a measurable impact on the world-wide phenomenon of street children through action.
  • We are not primarily an information sharing network or forum.
• The Child
  • We uphold the child as an individual and as an important member of family, community and society.
  • We uphold the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child as a reasonable and minimal standard for all countries in the world to adhere to. For example, we are opposed to the forced removal of children from the streets as a breach of their human rights.
  • We view as vital the part of street children themselves in transforming their situation and will seek to hear their voice and ensure they play an integral role in the strategy.
  • We believe that street-children and ex-street children are often best placed to motivate and inspire change among their peers and be agents of transformation in society at large
• Our Christian Faith
  • We are inspired to action with street children by the message, life and works of Jesus Christ.
  • As a family of believers, we see it as our responsibility to hold each other accountable to demonstrating God’s love for the children we are working with and provide excellent standards of care for children.
• Family and Community
  • We believe that a family (in the widest definition of the word) is the most appropriate nurturing environment for a child.
  • We believe in working with families as a whole where possible and not isolating children’s transformation from that of their family members.
  • We believe that reunification of a child with their family should be primary, followed by adoption, fostering, family-style institutions and only as a last resort dormitory style institutions.
  • We believe the community has an important part to play in the nurture of children and so work should be as community-based or community-involving as possible.
• Global partnership and unity
  • We believe in the value of partnering with those working with street children throughout the world, believing that we can learn helpful lessons from all contexts.
  • We believe that by cooperating instead of competing, we can be more effective in achieving our common vision.
• Holistic Transformation
  • We believe in a holistic approach to restoring street children, appreciating their physical, social, cultural, spiritual and intellectual needs.
  • We believe that street children need love and support to resolve their psycho-social issues and be equipped to change their own circumstances
  • We affirm that children have the right to run away from the abusive situations but that no child should need to sleep or live on the streets.
• Professionalism and integrity
  • We believe that professional work with street children should be recognized, best practice replicated and projects where staff are developed to grow in their professionalism commended.
  • We are prepared to be held accountable to objectives set to measure the impact of our work.
  • We seek to work with individuals and organisations that demonstrate integrity and accountability.
• Strategic and innovative
  • We propose strategic approaches to working with street children, believing this to be the most effective way to multiply impact. For example, we encourage city-wide collaborations, national initiatives, prevention as well as service provision and approaches that tackle issues at the level of the child, family and society.
  • We believe in encouraging innovative approaches to old and new problems.
  • We believe in research laying a sound foundation for strategic and innovative approaches, avoiding possible damage to children as the price of our innovation

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