The Government, in collaboration with other stakeholders, is working to finalize the development of regulations to operationalize the Children Act 2022.
Director of Children Services, George Migosi confirmed that the regulations are awaiting public participation to be conducted in a period of six months.
Migosi speaking in Murang’a, noted that the Supreme Court of Kenya has finalized the development of the Rules and Procedures necessary for guiding the court in implementing the Act.
“I wish to thank the court for gazetting the Standing Committee on the Administration of Justice for Children in Kenya and acknowledge the selfless efforts by the Judiciary in the improvement of the child justice system,” he said.
Migosi who represented the Social Protection PS Joseph Motari during celebrations to mark the World Children’s Day, said county governments have a huge mandate in promoting and providing services to children in line with the constitution and the Children Act.
“Counties like Kakamega, Turkana, Mombasa, Nyamira, and Murang’a have developed County specific children’s policies and many others such as Isiolo, West Pokot, Kirinyaga, Meru and Kiambu are in the process of developing children’s policies.
“These policies will unlock resources for the delivery of services to children,” he added.
The director further observed that many challenges still need a concerted effort to address.
“We have major resource gaps in service delivery, violence against children is still a major challenge, family cohesion is at risk as a result of erosion of family values and emerging issues such as climate change are posing a serious threat to human existence, especially the future of the children,” He averred.
On his part, Director of the National Council for Children Services Bishop Bernard Njoroge called for the establishment of a dedicated Ministry of Children to secure increased funding for child welfare.
“We must have a ministry dealing with children so that in the budget, they will get more funding to be able to handle children’s services effectively,” he said.
He also urged the Inspector General of police to establish Child Protection Units in all police stations.
He said the police stations should have a separate holding facility for children who find themselves in the justice system.
“Child-friendly justice means that children are treated as a vulnerable group and in a manner that they can understand their environment when having their rights promoted including the right to be heard which a natural right is.
“Let us all work to understand what child-friendly justice means in the coming days,” Stated Njoroge.
UNICEF Kenya Chief of Communications, Advocacy and partnerships Michelle Borromeo lauded Kenya for attaining various achievements on welfare and privileges of children.
She noted that on child nutrition, one notable achievement is the impressive reduction in stunting which dropped from 26 per cent to 18 per cent between 2014 and 2022 owing to strategic investments made in the nutrition sector.
“On health, under-five mortality has reduced from 115 per 1,000 live births to 47 per 1,000 live births within a 10-year period, from 2003 to 2023, because of effective interventions and improvements in the primary health care system and improved accessibility to trained health practitioners,” Stated Borromeo.
She challenged the government to keep a strategic focus and sustain investments in social spending, to safeguard hard-earned gains for children that took three and a half decades to achieve here in Kenya
On his part, Murang’a deputy governor Stephen Munania said the county government has established a children policy that will guide and regulate matters concerning children.
The policy, he said, will help the county effectively deliver its services to the children since it can now spend money on school-development programs, guided by the County’s Children Policy.
“Murang’a County Children’s Policy will put children’s rights and their development programs at the forefront. School-going children will now be safeguarded from hunger while at school as they get access to quality education,” he said.
While sensitizing children on measures they should take when abused, Munania expressed concerns over the alarming rate of teenage pregnancies in the county and called for coordinated efforts to address the issue.
Murang’a Catholic Bishop James Maria Wainaina noted that the diocese has implemented various programs to improve children’s welfare.
He noted that churches have a special responsibility of looking after children’s welfare and called for other churches to come up with programs that help vulnerable children in society.
By Bernard Munyao and Anjaliwa Francis
