PESHAWAR, Nov 22: Children staged skits to highlight miseries of child beggars and working street children, urging their parents to take care of their offspring by admitting them to the Centre for Street Children to make them useful citizens.

The function was arranged by Terre des Hommes (TDH), a Switzerland-based NGO, at the Centre for Street Children here on Tuesday, to observe the Children’s Rights Day.

The children also presented religious and other songs and poems depicting the importance of Children’s Rights Day.

‘‘In this way, we are trying to show how children in developing countries are exposed to cruelties,’’ said Jean Merry Dubby of the TDH.

He said that his organization operated in 40 countries of the world and ran 150 projects to improve the condition of children by imparting them informal education and necessary know-how to develop their skills.

He said that the organization provided health education, recreation, education and protection to as many as 120 children at the centre, which was established in January 2002.

A child read out a poem urging children to get education to help their parents in future.

Many other children described the suffering of street children and the way they faced hardships while begging in streets and bazaars.

Dubby said that children were a great asset for the community in general and their families in particular and there was an urgent need to provide them with basic education so they could grow up in an atmosphere conducive for the prevalence of a better society.

“I have been studying here in the second shift (evening) for the last two months. The teachers teach us Pushto, Dari, English, geography and mathematics. I have learned a lot. Initially, my parents were unwilling to allow me because they wanted me to beg and earn some money, but now they are happy,” said Gul Wali, who said that he still scavenged for earning a livelihood.

Nazim Town-III Shakirullah Khan, who was chief guest on the occasion, said that it was the basic responsibility of the parents to impart education to their offspring.

He said that the district government would devise plans to provide education to child beggars and assured his help to the TDH in its efforts of providing schooling facilities to the street children.

The children celebrated the day in a befitting manner.