INTRODUCTION

Primarily Azad was a group of students, teachers and alumni of Karachi University known as Azad Group. The group discussions centered on social problems, education and class disparity. The group also formed a theatre to highlight these issues. Class divisions and poverty were the most talked about issues as these created dissentions among different strata of society that stemmed out from the very core, i.e., education. The sector most affected were the children confused as why they were discriminated against due to their social, economic or ethnic backgrounds.

Thus in 1998, the executive body of Azad decided to get their group registered and convert it into a foundation. Foundation initially chose to work for child development but during the course of their investigations found out that there were thousands of children stranded in the streets who ran away due to poverty and lack of resources. These children were in dire straits due to the misfortune befallen on them and had no hope to survive their teens. This phenomenon prompted Azad foundation to specifically address the problem of street children in Pakistan