The global issue of street children is at last receiving greater international recognition. The UN's resolution 16/12 (March 2011) attracted more co-sponsors than almost any other since the creation of the Human Rights Council in 2006.
Yet there are entrenched misconceptions in the UK that this is only a developing-world issue.
A poll commissioned by the Consortium for Street Children and Aviva found that only 13% of British people realise street children are prevalent in western Europe and over two-thirds are unaware that an estimated 100,000 young people run away in the UK every year. More than one in five would be suspicious of crime at the sight of young people sleeping rough.
On the International Day for Street Children, 12 April, we need to challenge these misconceptions. Whether they are a runaway from Derby or a street child in Delhi, the factors that drive children to the streets are similar. Once on the streets these children adopt many tactics necessary to survive such as begging, loitering and rough sleeping. Sadly, in many countries heavy-handed treatment by the authorities – such as violence and roundups – is all too common.
Being a street child is not a crime. Today we want people to stand up for the rights of street children all over the world, by signing a pledge at www.streetchildrenday.org/take-action. This will be taken to a meeting with the UN in June, to ensure that street children's rights are not ignored.
Sally Shire
CEO, Consortium for Street Children
Andrew Moss
Group CEO, Aviva plc
Steven Gerrard
Liverpool Football Club and England
Bianca Jagger
Founder and chair, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation
Ann Coffey MP
Labour, Stockport; chair, APPG on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults
Russell Brown MP
Labour, Dumfries and Galloway; co-chair, APPG on Street Children
Susan Miller
House of Lords; co-chair, APPG on Street Children
Craig Whittaker MP
Conservative, Calder Valley; co- chair, APPG on Street Children
Heidi Alexander MP
Labour, Lewisham East; member, communities and local government select committee
Michael Odysseos
President, International Police Federation
Vartan Melkonian
Classical composer and conductor (and former street child); patron, Consortium for Street Children
Mel Young
Founder, Homeless World Cup
Alan Pascoe
Olympian; chairman, Chime Sports Marketing
Andrew Cates
Chief executive, SOS Children's Villages
Rob Williams
CEO, War Child
Brian Woods
Award-winning documentary maker, True Vision Productions
Najat Maalla M'jid
Special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, United Nations
Moushira Khattab
Former minister of state for family and population, Egypt; former vice-chair, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Daniel Brennan
House of Lords; patron, Consortium for Street Children
Mary Goudie
House of Lords; chair, UN.GIFT Women's Leaders Council
Mark Malloch Brown
House of Lords; former Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister of state for Africa, Asia and the UN; former UN deputy secretary general
Howard White
Executive director, The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
Yasmin Batliwala
CEO, Advocates for International Development
Benyam Dawit Mezmur
Vice-chairperson, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Tricia Young
Director, Child to Child Trust
Janice Miller
CEO, Child Welfare Scheme
Koy Thomson
Chief executive, Children in Crisis
Anna-mai Estrella
Jubilee Action
Andy Stockbridge
Chief executive, Toybox
Steven Derby
Trust director, Calcutta Hope
Ingo Abraham
Executive director, Action International Ministries
Mutani Yangwe
Executive director, Caretakers of the Environment Tanzania (COET)
Gordon Couch
Trustee, Students Supporting Street Kids
Ben Simms
Director, UK Consortium on AIDS and International Development
Duncan Dyason
Chair of trustees, Street Kids Direct
Utibe Ikot
Acting programme director, Stepping Stone Nigeria Child Empowerment Foundation
Sanjay Gupta
Managing trustee, Chetna
Sarah Oakes
Trustee, Latin American Foundation for the Future (LAFF)
Terina Keene
Chief executive, Railway Children
Edith Wilkins
CEO, Edith Wilkins Street Children Foundation
Philippa Frankl
Executive director, Street Kids international
Simon Jackman
Chief executive, Hope for Children
Margaret O'Grady
Director, International Childcare Trust
John Muiruri
Kenya director, Action for Children in Conflict
Chris Le Fevre
Chairman of Trustees, Action for Children in Conflict
Clare Mathias
Chair of trustees, The Hummingbird Trust
Joe Walker
CEO, Street Action
Jill Healey
Executive director, ChildHope
Surina Narula
President, Consortium for Street Children
Nic Fenton
Co-Founder, Consortium for Street Children
Karen Baker
Executive director, JUCONI Ecuador
Daragh O'Malley
Founder and trustee, Sharpe's Children Foundation
Philip Holmes
Founder and operational director, Esther Benjamins Trust
Alison Sanderson
Executive director, International Children's Trust
Duncan Ross
Director, StreetInvest
Deborah Alvarez Maldonado
Chief executive, Mi Arca
Julia Krepska
Director, Our Sansar
Cassie Williams
Trustee, Streets Ahead Rwanda
Chris Rose
Director, Amos Trust
Anthony Morton-King
Executive director, Street Child Africa
Gary Foxtrot
Director, Stepping Stones Nigeria
Diarmuid O'Neil
Trustee, Retrak