An In-Depth Investigation into the Street Children and Youth of Cameroon

Abstract

This chapter presents a brief description of Cameroon. Cameroon is Africa in microcosm, and hence an excellent spot to carry out research that represents the whole of sub-Saharan Africa to a greater extent. For example, Cameroon is bilingual, with the two most spoken official languages in Africa, French and English. Also, there exist more than 200 languages and cultures in Cameroon. Concerning religion, there are indigenous beliefs, Christians and Muslims. These cultures and religions represent many other cultures and religions in other parts of Africa. The chapter also includes official statistics concerning Cameroon’s street children and youths. The rest of the chapter is broadly divided into two sections. The first one discusses the factors responsible for the phenomenon of street children and youths. These include poverty, dysfunctional families, urbanization, HIV and AIDs, child trafficking, child kidnapping, child labor, and deplorable schooling conditions for the poor persons in some rural environments. Poverty is the most important factor responsible for street children and youths in Cameroon. There is a strong association between the prevalence of street children and youths and poverty. For example, the greatest proportion of destitute and severely poor people is in the northern regions. This justifies the fact that, a higher proportion of the street children and youth in Yaoundé and Douala comes from these northern regions of Cameroon. Dysfunctional families, most often due to poverty, are the next in importance. The rising rate of HIV and AIDs cannot also be understated in its importance, for the data on it as of 2015 reveals that Cameroon ranks 15th in the world in terms of the rate of adult HIV and AIDS. Most who have been orphaned by this disease end up on the streets. The second section deals with the adverse effects of the phenomenon on the socioeconomic development of the country, including insecurity, pickpocketing, Boko Haram recruitment, prostitution, the spread of HIV and AIDs, traffic jams, poor health services, and a disappearing middle class.