Caring for abandoned street children in La Paz, Bolivia

UNICEF reported in 1986 that the number of street children ranged from 30 to 170 million worldwide.1 Despite the large num-ber, there is a relatively small amount of literature on this neglected population. The international community knows very little about the geographical distribution of the children and the demographics worldwide. UNICEF categorises street children into four groupings. ‘‘Children at risk’ ’ are defined as children with particular risk factors that make them susceptible to spending a portion of their time on the streets. ‘‘Children on the streets’ ’ are children that occupy a portion of thei