École de la rue et Droits infantiles comme alternatives vers un changement de paradigme à Port-au-Prince

Abstract

In Port-au-Prince’s urban context, children living and working on the streets signal deep socio-economic vulnerability, uneven urban development, and systemic weaknesses in child-protection governance. This article analyses the “street as a school” of constrained socialization and assesses how children’s rights are implemented in Haiti in light of international commitments and domestic legal and institutional arrangements. The study pursues two objectives: to explain the drivers pushing minors into street life and to examine the State’s capacity—particularly through IBESR—to provide protection and rehabilitation. Methodologically, it relies on a qualitative design combining documentary analysis (international instruments, constitutional provisions, national policy frameworks) with field observations and semi-structured interviews conducted with 25 street-involved children in central Port-au-Prince. Findings identify a typology of situations (runaways, children moving back and forth between home and street, and those living permanently on the street), with pathways largely shaped by poverty, insecurity, household precarity, and limited access to basic services. The analysis also highlights under-resourced institutions and gaps in effective protection. The article’s main contribution is an integrated rights–territory–public policy perspective, translating empirical insights into actionable proposals focused on strengthening IBESR, scaling preventive social measures, ensuring educational continuity, and embedding child protection within broader urban and social policies.