A NEW TRANSIT HOME FOR CHILDREN REMOVED FROM THE STREETS

Togo is a country of 8 million inhabitants, located in the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa. Its population has been increasing significantly in recent years: the population growth rate is 2.84 per 100,000 inhabitants, with a fertility rate estimated at 4.3 births per woman, according to the 2010 General Population and Housing Census. One characteristic of this rapid growth is the youthfulness of the total population: 42% of the population is under 15 years old, and 48.2% is under 18. Furthermore, 51% of the population currently lives in multidimensional poverty. Togo is thus ranked 166th out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (UNDP 2016).

The country is also marked by a phenomenon of rural exodus, mainly among young people, and exacerbated by rapid urbanization causing: increased demographic pressure, the growth of slums, precarious housing, and the deterioration of...
Family and community fabric. This last point highlights a phenomenon that coexists with the previous ones: that of children and young people living on the streets. These young people—cut off from their family ties, deprived of their fundamental rights—settle into public spaces.
To survive, they face situations of begging, precarious work, sexual exploitation, or drug addiction. A study by the Ministry of Social Action, Women's Promotion, and Literacy (2015) reveals that approximately 5,594 children and young people live on the streets in Togo, including 2,877 in Lomé.

Founded in 2005, the Movement for Action for the Reintegration of Marginalized Children (MAREM) has been working for child protection in Togo since 2007. It dedicates its resources and expertise to the protection, care, and reintegration of children and young people living on the streets, primarily through two centers. The first, Espace Woezon, provides initial support to children in their immediate environment. The second, Centre EMERA, is a long-term transit shelter. In 2020, the NGO MAREM received funding from the Andalusian Cooperation to purchase a plot of land of approximately 1,200 m² and construct new facilities in the locality of Mission-Tové (Tovégblé area in the Zio prefecture). This project aims to complete the construction work so that the new shelter is fully operational.