Years of Advocacy and Kenyan Children Still Facing Human Rights Crisis

KEY POINTS
Despite the fact that African Child Day is marked annually, the government's efforts in addressing child crises are still negligible. Kids sleeping on the streets, defilement, and child trafficking news still make the face of the Kenyan media pages.
June 16th is the Day of the African Child. It was first established by the Organization of African Unity in 1991 to raise awareness for the situation of children in Africa and the need for continuous improvement in education. It encourages people’s spirit of abundance to share something special with a child in Africa.
As the continent commemorates this day, a huge population of Kenyan kids is still plagued with diseases, poverty, abuse, and neglect.
A study by Ministry of Labor and Social Protection led by Centers for Disease Control and Disease Control (CDC), in 2019 shows that 46% of 18 – 24-year-old young person has faced at least one type of violence physical, emotional or sexual, during their childhood.
A case study by the same ministry gives a grim reality of the level of abuse that these young populations in Africa undergo in silence.
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According to the Violence Against Children Survey (VACS), the prevalence of childhood violence remains high, affecting nearly half of females and more than half of males, physical violence is the most common form of childhood violence, most perpetrated by parents and caregivers.
‘Violence in childhood is all too common in Kenya, with about 50% of children experiencing it in some form,” Center for Disease Control (CDC) Kenya country director Marc Bulterys said during the release of the report.
This disclosure, however, shows a great contradiction to this year’s theme of 30 years after the adoption of the charter, “Accelerate Implementation of Agenda 2040 for Africa Fit for Children.”
The theme is meant to evaluate efforts that African countries have taken to restore the dignity of the African child.
The solid aspirations set by the agenda to be achieved by the year 2040 include having every child’s birth and other vital statistics registered, protecting the child against violence, exploitation neglect, and abuse, freeing them from the impact of armed conflicts and other disasters or emergencies, providing quality education and making their views matter.
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The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), leading the commemoration of the DAC since 2002 emphasized the importance of child participation in issues affecting them. Systems should be put in place to allow the young ones to express their needs and desires.
The CEO of the National Council for Children Services (NCCS), Abdinoor Sheik said there are shortfalls that they are addressing in their attempt to promote a child’s rights. The area of priority that they will embark on this year is to have a database where all issues affecting a child are recorded.
Those who bear the biggest burden of child abuse in Kenya are the orphans and the vulnerable. Foreigners come in as volunteers and sexually abuse them.
The government is now coming up with a care reform strategy that will see a huge reduction of child orphanages and most of them will be closed.
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Already, a majority of the care facilities were told to reduce the number of youngsters in their custody to reduce the spread of covid 19.
Despite the fact that African Child Day is marked annually, the government’s efforts in addressing child crises are still negligible. Stories of kidnapping and young dead bodies dumped in thickets have increased in Kenya. Kids sleeping on the streets, defilement, and child trafficking news still make the face of the Kenyan media pages.
Article by Lynnet Okumu
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