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Chakib Guessous, 30 years of action and reflection on street children in Morocco
The result of a fifteen-year collaborative academic effort, Street Children (Marsam, 2019) by Chakib Guessous has become a key reference on the topic in Morocco. Now, the doctor and sociologist returns with Surviving... Street Children and Youth (La Croisée des chemins, 2025), a new book aimed at the general public, born of decades of immersion, research, and activism. In it, Guessous sheds light on a phenomenon that remains underexplored, offering analytical insights into the painful reality of those living on the margins, caught between exclusion and survival.
Striking a delicate balance between the complexity of the subject, field observations, sociological analysis, and accessible language, the book is enriched by firsthand testimonies. It also provides a comparative look at how this issue manifests in other countries and regions, allowing Guessous to root his reflections in both a local and global context. Implicitly, he explores the mechanisms of social exclusion and reminds readers of the shared responsibility, starting with decision-makers, in rethinking our collective approach to vulnerability and solidarity.
The complexity of the issue required long-term investigation and analysis, as the author explains. «We are dealing here with a phenomenon that is still relatively recent. Globally, it only gained media attention in the second half of the 20th century. In Morocco, the Bayti Association has worked on it since 1995, but few academic studies have supported the necessary analysis. We had to learn everything», Guessous told Yabiladi.
A Multidisciplinary Experience Between Sociology and Social Action
Drawing on his experience working with Moroccan street children in Italy in the 1990s, Guessous developed his approach through in-depth interviews to «develop a vision» of street life dynamics among children, youth, and older individuals. His multidisciplinary method was strengthened by full immersion in the lives of these people and their interactions with civil society, including the founding of Riad Al Amal in 2007, which he co-established.
«From there, I was able to set up a research program, even though we had no national scientific foundation, and no other African country had reached Morocco's level of research. I was able to conduct a comparative study on the situation on the ground with Latin America, as North America and Europe had already implemented systems to address the issue», he explains.
This work laid the foundation for Morocco's reintegration programs for street populations, programs that are now influencing similar efforts in Latin America. «We believed the objective wasn't just to feed children or provide immediate aid, but to create mechanisms to reintegrate them into society. Another goal was to produce scientific knowledge and conduct research», Guessous adds.
In 2017, he completed Morocco's largest research program on the subject, culminating in the collective publication Street Children two years later. Intended for researchers and civil society actors, the book compiles academic and field data that have since become key reference points. The National Observatory for Children's Rights (ONDE) uses the work as a model of best practice, and it has inspired several major African cities in shaping their own response mechanisms.
Guessous's latest work, Surviving... Street Children and Youth, offers a new lens through which to view the crisis. It raises fundamental questions around «the right to protection, care, access to education, training, and employment». It's a contribution meant for the public, professionals, and policymakers alike.
«Today, I wanted to address the issue through an essay. All the field data is there, but with explanations for the general reader, to make it easier to read and help our society better understand these realities. The text moves between analysis and a grounded portrayal of street life».
The «Street Natives»: A Deeply Concerning, Understudied Reality
After more than three decades of research and activism, Guessous also charts the evolution of the crisis, touching on drug use, violence, begging, and the complex factors that lead to life on the streets or complicate reintegration. He explains that the aim is «to trace the paths that bring children to the street, often linked to domestic violence», but also to draw attention to the alarming emergence of «street natives», children born to homeless mothers.
On this point, Guessous warns that these generations «don't know what a home is and don't even integrate the concept of a residence into their thinking». Unlike their parents, who once lived in family environments before becoming homeless, «they haven't acquired these social concepts, which leads to fragmented cognitive development».
«For now, we're seeing only a few cases, but this raises serious questions about the future of these children. It calls for sociological and psychiatric research», he stresses.
Faced with this alarming development, one that presents both a new challenge for researchers and a child protection emergency, Guessous concludes: «We should not have newborns living on the street. This trend is especially concerning because it represents a facet of the phenomenon we don't yet fully understand. We don't know how these street natives will form social reference points or develop any kind of stability».
