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KENYA
15 years on and affirmed rights of
children are not observed
It is now 15 years since the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child was ratified. But many children who have grown up
within the lifetime of the convention have now reached their teenage
years knowing nothing of these rights. Indeed, the children, even those
born on the day the convention was ratified have neither benefited from
the promises it contains nor the rights it affords them. Though highly
vaunted, passionately sought, fiercely defended, sentimentally alluded
to and even legally guaranteed, the rights of the child like the rights
of women are commonly affirmed but complacently taken for granted. In
the year 2002, more than 94 million people voted in the Say yes for
Children campaign on actions to improve the lives of world’s children
during the UN General Assembly’s special Session on Children. It was at
the time that the Special Session that the name Global Movement for
Children was first coined. The purpose of naming the global movement for
children was to help make visible to the world’s leaders, the thousands
of organisations, and million of voters and the children themselves who
are united in this cause. It is unfortunate that despite these efforts,
in Kenya like in many parts of the world, the administration and respect
for the rights of children is still wanting.
Today, as we celebrate the Universal Children’s Day
and participate in Lessons for Life, a program organised by the Global
Movement for Children to sensitise children against HIV/Aids, we are
challenged as a nation to ask ourselves what children are doing locked
up with hard-core criminals in dingy cells. As we saunter along Koinange
Street in the night, we should be ashamed as a nation to have subjected
children to pernicious forms of slavery such as child prostitution. And
when we tour our beaches at the Coast we ought to be very angry to hear
of incidences of trafficking of young boys and girls for sexual
purposes. Moreover, when we watch television channels that broadcast
pornographic materials we should be very sorry that children too have
access to such materials. According to a report by Plan International, a
global organisation concerned with welfare and rights of children, an
estimated 100 and 150 million children worldwide, live on the streets
exposed to all manner of atrocities. These children face a range of
threats to their rights and well-being. The atrocities range from
violence, corporal punishment, bullying, discrimination, sexual abuse,
forced or bonded child labor, drug trafficking, and armed conflict; name
it. Indeed, half a million children have been recruited into armed
forces worldwide and at any time, an estimated 300,000 children under
the age of 18 will be actively fighting nearly in every continent.
Children are recruited as young as 7 years though a majority are between
15 and 18. In a report by Plan Kenya, children have to grow up fast and
take the roles and responsibilities far beyond their physical and
emotional capacity. Indeed, thousands of young girls bear the brunt of
early marriages hence experience childbirth complications wrought out of
their immature bodies. With the HIV/Aids pandemic, the children’s
predicament is worsened. In Kenya alone, Aids has orphaned an estimated
1.7 million children, 60 per cent of whom are between the ages of 0-14.
This number is set to rise by 2010. As a result, children of both
genders are taking on roles of comforters of the sick and or becoming
breadwinners. Furthermore, in the quest for stable relationships these
children end up cohabiting with each other hence run the risk of
becoming infected with HIV/Aids.
Unfortunately, Kenya does not have a formal structure
to oversee the general welfare of orphans and vulnerable children. The
Department of Children’s Services within the Ministry of Home Affairs
has the overall responsibility for all children but its capacity is
limited by lack of clear policies and Action Plan with respect to
orphans and vulnerable children. The role of the Children’s Department
vis-‡-vis that of the National Council for Children’s Services (NCCS)
needs to be clarified and streamlined for effective coordination of the
orphaned and vulnerable children. According to Else Kragholm, Plan Kenya
Country Director, many children are recruited into organised crime, gang
culture and dangerous employment. Though Article 34 of the UN Convention
on the Rights of the child stipulates that states must prevent children
from being coerced into unlawful sexual activity and the exploitative
use of children in prostitution or pornography, a visit to Majengo slums
in Nairobi tells a different story. The children in the streets are
kicked, beaten and raped by these who exploit them. It is difficult to
know how many children are being exploited as the shame, stigma, fear,
reprisal and lack of belief in authorities means that many of the
children do not report it. An optional protocol specifically addressing
the commercial sexual exploitation of children was adopted in 2000 and
came into force in 2002. But for it to be effective foreign governments
need to cooperate internationally to guard against issuing humanitarian
visas or refugee status to trafficked children. Children are also
involved in hazardous tasks such as working with dangerous machinery and
blinding chemicals. In Nairobi today, children as old as six years are
earning meager wages employed as house helps. Despite the widespread
splash of human rights issues in the media recently, there is a
widespread oversimplification of the ability of children to understand
key issues in life. As a consequence, children are obliterated from the
decision making process. Youth is considered as a delicate phase of life
fraught with immaturity and indecision. A child’s mind is often
considered as a tabula rasa an empty slate ready to be written on and
the rod enforces the directives. Children are thus not encouraged to
claim their rights. Violence meted out on children behind closed doors
goes without being reported due to the fear of retribution. Cultures of
violence that are deeply entrenched in many societies mean that neither
the child nor abuser see anything wrong. They see violence as normal and
deserved punishment hence they feel guilty for whatever they have done
to deserve the treatment. As a result violence directed at children
continues unabated in homes, schools, in institutions such as
orphanages, on the street and in detention.
Widespread acceptance of corporal punishment as a form
of discipline exacerbates violence and as a consequence children run
away from homes only to find more violence in the streets. Sapped of
their confidence and tormented by lack of appreciation, children are
left confused, trying to place themselves in the society. The spill over
effect is experienced in schools in the form of arson, violence strikes
and class boycotts.
Linda Ochiel
22 November 2004
http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=6227
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