Missing Children Guidelines Set to Achieve Coordinated Response

The Department Of Children Services in Kenya is coming up with missing children guidelines aimed at achieving a coordinated national policy response across various government departments and community organizations.

The Director, Children Services Noah Sanganyi says the Department encourages a holistic approach encompassing prevention, protection, location, education, and support to missing children and their families.

“Families and communities need to be confident that when children go missing those responsible for finding them will work to reduce the likelihood that they will come to no harm and that all organizations will work together to resolve cases of missing children as quickly as possible, whilst providing the families of the missing children with the support they need,” he notes.

“In Kenya, a day does not pass before we see or read in the media cases of missing children. The impact goes wider than just the missing child. Families are left behind, often in limbo not knowing the whereabouts or welfare of their loved ones.

As a country, we do not have consensus on who is a missing child, or how to investigate cases involving missing children. The lack of an agreed upon definition and investigative procedures makes it difficult to know the full extent of the problem.

In order to effectively prevent and reduce the number of children going missing, as stakeholders in child protection, we need to understand the picture and context of a missing child and whether there are any particular locations or venues which are particularly high risk and where children are regularly going missing.

The traditional police role has focused on locating missing children. However, the Department of Children’s Services encourages a holistic approach encompassing prevention, protection, location, education and support to missing children and their families.
We are in the process of coming up with missing children guidelines so as to achieve a coordinated national policy response across various government departments and community organizations.

Families and communities need to be confident that when children go missing those responsible for finding them will work to reduce the likelihood that they will come to no harm and that all organizations will work together to resolve cases of missing children as quickly as possible, whilst providing the families of the missing children with the support they need.” Noah Sanganyi, HSC – Department Of Children Services Kenya.

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