COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD STARTS EXAMINATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF KENYA

CRC
28th session
26 September 2001
Morning





Kenya is giving Priority to Children, Government Delegation Says


The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning started its examination of an initial report from Kenya with a Government delegation saying that in spite of severe economic and social difficulties, including drought, poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the Kenyan Government is giving priority to critical areas of child care.

Introducing his country's report, Wycliffe Osundwa, Assistant Minister at the Office of the Vice-President and the Ministry of Home Affairs Heritage and Sports of Kenya, said that despite the efforts made by the Government, the country had not achieved full realization of children's rights. He said foremost among the constraints faced was the high level of poverty. The Government, however, remained committed to the full realization of all the rights of the child as contained in the Convention, he added.

According to the report, although there is no comprehensive statistical data, the number of working children is estimated to have increased to between 3 and 4 million in 1998; the 1989 Kenyan population census found 896,569 children aged between 10 and 15 years to be economically active; the children worked in violation of national and international laws; many of them worked under hardship conditions. That had serious negative consequences on their health, education and normal development, the Kenyan report noted.

Over the course of their consideration of the report, a number of Committee Experts expressed the view that Kenya's social and economic structures were declining due to lack of resources. They also noted the prolongation of the process of legislation with regard to laws concerning children's rights.

The Kenyan delegation is also made up of B.W. Musundi, Permanent Secretary at the Office of the Vice President and the Ministry of Home Affairs Heritage and Sports; Amina Mohamed, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Gad Awuonda, Senior State Council; S. Ole Kwallah, Director for Children's Services; Wambua Nzioka, Senior Children's Officer; Anne Wamae, Head of the Child Health Division; Daniel K. Sang, Senior Deputy Director for Education; Michael A. O. Oyugi, Counsellor at the Kenyan Permanent Mission at Geneva; Alex Chepsiror, Senior Legal Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; and Juliet M. Gicheru, First Secretary at the Kenyan Mission.

As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Kenya must submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will conclude its discussion of the report of Kenya.


Report of Kenya

The initial report of Kenya is contained in document CRC/C/3/Add.62. It contains detailed information on the general situation of children in the country and on the Government's efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention through the adoption of administrative, juridical and legislative measures. It says that out of the 29 million Kenyans, 52 per cent are children under 17 years of age. The Government remains committed to the adequate allocation of resources for basic services. However, despite government investment in social services, urban water systems are overloaded and water-fetching is a great burden for women and children in rural areas.

According to the report, the 1989 Kenyan population census found 896,569 children aged between 10 and 15 years to be economically active. The result indicates a high presence of child labour, given that children below 10 years were not asked about their status in the labour force. Although there are no comprehensive statistics on child labour, the number of working children is estimated to have increased to 3 and 4 million in 1998. Children work in violation of national and international laws. Many of them work under hardship conditions. This has serious negative consequences on their health, education and normal development. There are, however, efforts to eliminate child labour.

Certain cultural beliefs in Kenya have had a negative influence on the lives and welfare of children, the report notes. The size of families is to a great extent influenced by culture, because children are considered to be a blessing and security for parents in old age. Certain beliefs and practices infringe on the girl child's sexual and reproductive rights and bodily integrity, which includes practices and beliefs which touch on coitus, initiation rituals and early marriage. In addition, gender bias in the provision of education for girls is deeply rooted in culture and tradition. This infringes on girls' right to development; it denies them education and health; and it affects their career and denies them the opportunity to participate in decision-making at every level.

The report says that there has been no effective coordination mechanism for the implementation of the Convention; however, in 1997, a technical steering committee was established drawing its membership from relevant ministries. Children's issues are funded jointly by the Government, the donor community and various non-governmental organizations. Funding for basic social services has remained very low and has had adverse effects on the realization of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). In addition, children have been severely affected by the economic crisis facing the country.


Further, the report says that since Kenya has over 40 different ethnic communities, the child is defined differently. The definitions depend on how each community marks the tradition from childhood into adulthood, through various rites of passage. These occur at different stages, and the ceremonies normally involve age-sets by different socio-cultural events. These rites conferred adulthood status with its attendant duties and responsibilities irrespective of numerical age. It is estimated that only 30 per cent of births are registered annually.

The report says that children with disabilities face discrimination both within and outside the family setting. In some communities, such children are considered to be taboo children since disability is associated with bad luck. In some rural communities, such children may be hidden from the public. This makes it impossible for them to be assessed and assisted.


Presentation of Report

WYCLIFFE OSUNDWA, Assistant Minister at the Office of the Vice-President and the Ministry of Home Affairs Heritage and Sports of Kenya, stressed that in spite of severe economic and social difficulties, including drought, poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the Government of Kenya is giving priority to critical areas of child care.

Mr. Osundwa said that a draft children's bill was now before the country's parliament. Meanwhile, various Government Ministries and Departments, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, leaders and religious organizations were working together with grassroots structures known as Area Children's Advisory Committees. Those structures, which were responsible for the welfare of children, coordinated the promotion and protection of the rights of the child and developed a comprehensive approach to the implementation of the Convention.

The Government had embarked on enhancing the requisite institutional capacities, skills and financial resources to enable the Area Children's Advisory Committees to carry out their mandates, while awaiting their incorporation in the proposed National Council for Children's Services, Mr. Osundwa said. In the area of law reform, the Government was determined to harmonize national legislation with the principles and provisions of the Convention by consolidating three substantive statutes and reviewing 62 other statutes that contained provisions relating to children. In the process, the definition of the child would be harmonized to cover all persons under 18 years of age. It was expected that following those reforms, the current incompatibility with the principle of non-discrimination in the areas of marriage, employment and juvenile justice would be removed.

Mr. Osundwa further said that the Government, in collaboration with its partners, had continued to promote awareness and understanding of the principles and provisions of the Convention through the mass media. It had also put in place legislative, administrative and other measures since 1963 to ensure children's economic, social and cultural rights to the maximum extent of the country's available resources. The Convention had indeed offered the Government with an opportunity to re-articulate those measures with a view of improving the rights of girls, orphans, children with disabilities, abandoned children and children victims of abuse and other economic and social exploitation.

Moreover, Mr. Osundwa said that over the last ten years, Kenya had striven to implement child rights through Government departments and civil society. Both the National Plan of Action and the Kenyan Government-UNICEF programme of cooperation recognized the crucial role that civil society played in supplementing Government efforts. The Government remained committed to the full realization of children's rights and, to that end, had designed the Office of the Vice-President as the focal point on children issues.

Mr. Osundwa continued to say that the country, in collaboration with multilateral partners, was in the process of implementing a programme for children in conflict with the law. The programme attempted to integrate children who were or were likely to be in conflict with the law in the society and thus minimized the high flow of children in the juvenile justice system.

Mr. Osundwa said that in spite of those efforts, the country had not achieved full realization of children's rights. Foremost among the constraints faced was the high level of poverty. The Government, however, remained committed to the full realization of all the rights of the child as contained in the Convention.


Discussion

Following the introduction of the report by the delegation, Committee Experts raised a number of questions. Several Experts said that Kenya's social and economic structure was declining because of the lack of financial resources available to the Government. They also commented on the slowness of the process of the adoption of legislation with regard to child rights.

Responding to a question on the children's bill which was still before parliament, the delegation said that the bill was in its second reading and it would be considered by the legislators when they reconvened their session next month. The bill would be the first comprehensive child law statute in the country. The latest version, Children Bill 2001, was due for presentation in parliament and currently the stakeholders were lobbying the relevant parliamentary committee for its passage.

The delegation said a motion was brought to parliament in 1998 to create the office of an ombudsman; however, the motion was defeated and nothing further had transpired with respect to the creation of that office.

The delegation said that Kenya had no separate organ for youth and children, however, the Government had laid down the basis for the establishment of such an institution.

Asked about the situation of corruption, the delegation said that corruption was endemic in Kenya and consultations were continuing on a draft bill which aimed at fighting corruption. Once the consultations were concluded, the draft would be presented to parliament for its approval. The country's economic growth had been constrained by high-level corruption which had severely discouraged foreign investment and had severely affected Kenya's macroeconomic stability.

The process of establishment of a national human rights commission was underway with a draft bill being submitted to the country's parliament, the delegation said. When the bill was adopted, the composition and structure of the commission would be different than the initial one. A full-time chairperson with a rank similar to that of the president of the court of appeal would be appointed, in addition to seven commissioners who would also serve on a full-time basis. The commission would have the mandate to look into any situation brought to its attention.


The delegation said that the problem of early marriage was a major issue in the country. The Government, however, continued to launch public campaigns on the harmful effects of early marriage. The Kenyan Judges Association had been playing an important role in that regard.

Committee Experts continued to query the delegation on issues pertaining to, among other things, the practice of corporal punishment; acts of torture against children; domestic violence and measures to rehabilitate victims; participation of children in matters concerning them; the status of birth registration; discrimination against children and women; the impact of ethnic tensions on children; the situation of children in single-mother households; children imprisoned with their parents; and the nationality of children born to Kenyan mothers and foreign fathers.




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