Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bangkok (Agenzia Fides) – From 19th to 23rd October 2010, the First Integrated Meeting on the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street for the Continents of Asia and Oceania will be held at the Baan Phu Waan Pastoral Training Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. This is the third in a sequence of Continental Meetings, promoted and organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (PCPCMIP) on the pastoral care of the road/street. The first meeting was held in 2008 in Bogotà, Colombia, for the Continent of Latin America, in collaboration with the Department on Human Mobility of CELAM (Episcopal Conferences of Latin America), while the second took place in 2009 in Rome, Italy. The 2011 Meeting is set to take place in Africa. According to a note sent to Fides, the Bangkok Meeting is organized in collaboration with the Office for Human Development of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (OHD-FABC). Some 55 participants from 18 countries in Asian and Oceania are expected to attend. Among them are archbishops, bishops, priests, religious sisters and brothers and lay socio-pastoral agents, representing Episcopal Commissions for Justice and Peace, Episcopal Commissions for Social-Human Development, National and Diocesan Caritas and various other charitable and religious institutions.
Among the main objectives of the encounter are the sharing of experiences and methodologies of approach in Asia and Oceania; exploring new possibilities of exercising and expanding the existing ministry; discovering new strategies for collaboration with governmental and non-governmental bodies and organizations; working jointly to safeguard the dignity of the human person and to ensure their well-being; promoting understanding and education amongst all motorists regarding road ethics, safe driving and human/Christian charity on the road/street.
According to the latest statistics provided by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People, about 3,000 adults and 500 children die every day from road accidents. Every year 1.3 million people are killed and 50 million injured. More than 90% of these accidents occur in low and middle income countries. Every year a growing number of people, mostly women and children, fall victim to trafficking for sexual exploitation or otherwise, both within and beyond national borders. The numbers are increasing. Although Asian governments have banned prostitution in general, it is believed to have become an important business on the continent.
Street children worldwide number approximately 150 million: 40% of them are homeless and 60% work on the streets to support his family. The circumstances and experiences of street children overlap with several other categories of minors, such as child victims of trafficking, migrant children, and working children. South Asia has one of the largest concentrations of street children in the world.
The problem of homelessness is complex. It is estimated that worldwide there are over 1 billion people homeless, including people without a permanent shelter and those who do not have adequate housing. Migration (internal and external), poverty, family breakdown, mental illness, addiction, and in Asia and Oceania, natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, are some of the reasons that lead people to live on the street. For most of them, it is not simply a matter of not having a roof, but a question of having a home to live in with dignity, safety, and health. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 10/18/2010)
