A group of lobbies will launch a three-year project to protect Kenyan children from abuse and violence.
The Joining Forces Alliance For Children seeks to strengthen child protection and response systems and improve protection in resilient families.
The Sh1.2 billion project funded by the European Union, where Kenya is allocated Sh291 million will be implemented in Nairobi, Bungoma, Busia, and Kakuma refugee camp.
The Sh 1.2 billion...
The alliance comprises ChildFund, Plan International, Save the children, SoS Children's villages International, Terre Des Hommes, and World Vision.
Half of the Kenyan children suffer abuse, according to the Violence Against Children Survey 2019.
They are subjected to physical and sexual abuse including incest, sodomy, defilement, and emotional violence as well as harmful practices such as female genital mutilation.
The alliance has called on stakeholders to support the government's national prevention and response plan on violence against children, which aims at ending childhood violence by 40 per cent by 2024.
“Its goal is for all children in Kenya to be protected from physical, sexual and emotional violence, and for those children who experience violence to have access to care, support, and services,” the State Department for Social Protection says.
The alliance further called for effective implementation of laws, policies, and national plans that protect children from violence in Kenya.
In addition to reducing child abuse, the national prevention plan also seeks to promote positive parenting practices and economic strengthening to reduce violence within families.
“The plan articulates what needs to be done for Kenya to deliver its pledge of achieving the SDG to 'end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against children',” Unicef representative to Kenya Maniza Zaman said.
The initiative will address emerging forms of violence such as radicalisation and extremism, online abuse, and children gangs that are increasingly becoming prevalent.
The strategic plan is based on the premise that violence against children is never justifiable, nor is it inevitable, and if its underlying causes are identified and addressed, violence against children is entirely preventable.