Role of non-governmental organizations in the daily lives of the Afghan and Pathan children and youth working on the streets

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the role and effectiveness of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the daily lives of the Afghan and Pathan children and youth working on the streets. In this ethnographic research, 30 girls and boys, aged 12 to 16, were involved in the data generation. Three NGOs were selected in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. In this research, children and youth discussed that one of the NGOs is meeting the needs of education and other two NGOs are putting their efforts but to a limited extent. This investigation also revealed that none of the studied NGOs have focused on the work based learning and skills development, however contributing to a very limited scope. The studied group has valued the NGOs' consideration of respect and dignity aspects in their operations. It is concluded that NGOs need to plan comprehensively to play an effective role to improve the daily lives of their target groups such as children and youth working on the streets.