Project to boost lives of homeless people in Mombasa

MOMBASA: A lobby yesterday said it would launch a project to help homeless people.

Human Rights Agenda (Huria) said 3,400 people were homeless and lived in the central business district's garbage sites and narrow street alleys.

The project is aimed at tapping talent, identifying and nurturing skill, and development. "It will also seek to strengthen capabilities of the street families through training and linkages to economic empowerment opportunities. The project will seek to improve the dignity for street families and respect for their rights and freedoms," Huria Executive Director Yusuf Lule Mwatsefu said.

Mr Mwatsefu said the project would create awareness on the need to counter violent extremism among street families who have been targeted by outlawed militia groups like the Al Shabaab.

Mwatsefu said in recent years the county had witnessed an increase in the number of street families in the town.

He said children and youth continue to flock the streets due to poverty, drugs and other social ills.