Estonia

Estonia is located in eastern Europe on the Baltic Sea bordering Latvia and Russia. The capital is Tallinn. In 2004 the population was estimated to be 1.3 million with a growth rate of -0.66 percent. The official language is Estonian, while Russian, Ukraininan , and Finnish are also spoken.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia has thrown itself into the European community. It has joined NATO and the World Trade Organisation and became a member of the European Union this year. While population is decreasing and unemployment is ten percent, the GDP growth rate is 4.7 percent. Estonia still has an external debt of almost four billion pounds, and last received sixty million pounds in international aid in 2000. After the initial fall of the Soviet Union there was concern over the assistance available for street children, mostly focusing on health and living arrangements. There are still problems for street children in Estonia today, but overall conditions have greatly improved.

Members

SOS Children's Villages

Publications

Life without Basic Service ''Street Children Say''
This study builds on the learning of Street Diary (Save the Children UK, 2001), giving theopportunity for a group of children to represent their own analysis of their situation. Itexamines the human and emotional dimension of life on the street. This is not astatistical or quantitative research but is representative of the feelings of children livingon the street about their lives and organisations working with them.

Networking for Policy Change: An Advocacy Training Manual

Organizational Diagnosis for Advocacy
When groups are considering advocacy, it is helpful for them to assess what advocacy actually can offer their organization, what some of the benefits and risks might be and what organizational barriers might influence their success.

Tackling Childhood Poverty in Central and East Asia: Donor Approaches in Krygyzstan and Mongolia
This paper is one of a series of working papers, reports and policy briefings on different aspects ofchildhood poverty published by the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre (CHIP). CHIP is acollaborative research and policy initiative involving academic institutions and Save the Children inChina, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and the UK. It aims to: -Deepen understanding of the main causes of childhood poverty and poverty cycles, andincrease knowledge of effective strategies to tackle it in different contexts-Inform effective policy to end childhood poverty, ensuring that research findings arewidely communicated to policy makers, practitioners and advocates-Raise the profile of childhood poverty issues and increase the urgency of tackling themthrough anti poverty policy and action-Work globally to tackle chronic and childhood poverty in developing and transitioncountries.

Resources

International Day for Street Children Toolkit
This toolkit has been designed by the Consortium for Street Children to help you celebrate the International Day for Street Children on 12th April. They provide everything you should need to publicise and promote the Day. You can also download creatives and copy blocks from the website to use. For more information please contact Leonora Borg: leo@streetchildren.org.uk