The International Labour Organisation [ILO] has partnered with five county governments that have recorded a surge in child labour and sexual exploitation in order to accelerate necessary interventions and policies to tackle the menace.
ILO has flagged the counties of Kajiado, Nairobi, Bungoma, Mombasa, and Kwale, where cases of child labour and sexual exploitation have surged in the recent past, attributed to their nature of economies.
For instance, Kwale and Mombasa and other coastal counties continue to record increased cases of children forced into commercial sex exploitation, pimping businesses, beach businesses, and early child marriages.
On the other hand, Bungoma and other agriculturally rich counties have recorded a surge in the exploitation of children in agricultural sectors, including quarrying, tea harvesting, and tree growing, amongst others, driving high school dropout rates.
According to ILO Programme Manager Grace Banya, Kajiado has also been mostly affected by children herding cattle and rearing activities, with high cases of children involved in cross-border cattle herding.
Banya said ILO has accelerated its partnerships with affected counties to roll out much-needed interventions that will address the menace, including influencing the enactment of friendly child protection laws.
The ILO, Banya said, is also influencing county budgetary processes to channel adequate funds towards the enactment of laws, advocacy campaigns, and ensuring enforcement measures to end child labour, sexual exploitation, and trafficking in the country.
“Enactment and enforcement of child protection laws in the country is key to achieving Sustainable Development Goal target 8 of eradicating child labour and sexual xploitation,” Banya said during a press briefing in Naivasha.
Andrew Odete, ILO Engagement and Partnerships Officer, said child labour is mostly driven by the agricultural sector, with a prevalence of 72 per cent and harmful cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation and child early marriages.
Odete said ILO is supporting counties to enrich their child protection laws, policy agendas, and sensitization programmes to upscale rescue missions for victims of child labour and sexual exploitation through the County Child Labour Advisory Councils.
In addition, Odete said the ILO is also partnering with the Ministry of Labour and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics to roll out a national survey on child labour to establish the full scale in the country.
This, he said, will ensure more progressive, data-informed interventions, measures, and policies are put in place to address and eradicate the vice.
By Erastus Gichohi
