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the number of street children/youth who qualify for being counted is higher than if the
conventional definition of street children is applied. This is, however, a reflection of the
CSCNs ambition to push for a general revision of the definition, as many NGOs working
with street children end their activities when the children turn 18 years of age - even
when further support is needed.
Finally, inconsistent usage of the street children definition between NGOs and others
working with the topic has an impact on understanding the various dimensions of
problems relating to street children, and in consequence their exact magnitude. As the
SCP 2009 primarily is com-piled for internal usage and the method applied each year
is consistent, there is no methodo-logical hindrance to comparing the data from the
different years.
Data Collection Methods
To facilitate the collection of data about street children/youth in six Cambodian
locations, this study is comprised of three main analytical frames, each based on a
specific methodological approach. Frame I seeks to provide a general overview of
issues and official statistics relevant to support the analysis of the data derived from
Frame II and Frame III, assembling a snapshot survey and a questionnaire respectively.
By combining three different methodologies and the application of both primary and
secondary data to the analysis, it has been possible to generate information about the
street children/youth with reasonable accuracy.
The six locations where the two different surveys were carried out - Phnom Penh, Siem
Reap, Neak Loeung, Sihanoukville, Kampong Cham and Poipet – were selected on
the basis of the size of the street children population or areas involving explicit risks to
the children. Moreover, the locations represent areas that are either highly populated,
attract tourism or are migration hubs such as the Thai and Vietnamese borders. A final
criterion for selecting the locations is directed by where the CSCN members operate,
so as to provide a specific knowledge of the street children/youth populations of each
site. What follows is a brief description of each location, though a more elaborated
CSCN
CSCN Street Children Profile 2009
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