Kenya: Over 100,000 Displaced Children Set For Resettlement

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said that the formation of the grand coalition cabinet on Sunday will ensure that the over 100,000 children displaced in the recent post election violence resettle back to their normal lives.

The Vice President noted that the post-election violence had led to the displacement of over 100,000 children.

Speaking Monday during the official opening of the World Vision Kenya African Regional Child Protection Workshop at a Nairobi hotel, the VP said the children form the majority of any family hence it was disheartening to see them moving in a state of despair and desperation as internally displaced people.

“Never again will we allow our children to live in the dehumanizing situation of internally displaced person’s “, he assured, adding that the violence had exposed them to dismay, trauma and suffering, besides denying them access to their right to education.

The six-day workshop sponsored by Irish NGO, Irish Aid, brought together Children Officers, administrators, Area Advisory council members, security personnel and children from Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Somalia and Kenya.

Mr. Musyoka also urged leaders to ensure that they support the protection of children’s rights to enable them live in a happy and peaceful environment.

He noted there was a serious abuse to the human rights of the children in the continent citing the recruitment of minors as child soldiers in armies, saying that there was need to domesticate all convention for children and treaties to curb such vices.

The Vice President commended World Vision and other donor countries for supporting the 2.4million children living below the poverty line.

He similarly hailed the government for supporting another 43,000 who were benefiting through the cash transfer fund programme.

The Vice President of World Vision-Africa Prof. Wilfred Mlay commended the formation of a grand coalition in Kenya saying that whenever there are conflicts in countries, it is children and women who suffer most.

He therefore called on other African countries facing strife and conflicts to emulate the Kenyan example of amicably solving their differences instead of resorting to war.

Lamenting that many African countries were faced with conflicts Prof. Mlay assured them that his organization would continue to partner with their governments to ensure that children’s safety, security and prosperity are guaranteed and are provided with an environment where they can grow and mature.

Prof. Mlay noted that despite the enactment and formulation of numerous treaties on the protection of children, majority of them continued to be exploited sexually, trafficked as child laborers, and exposed to evil practices such as early marriages and female genital mutilation.

The Director of Children Services Mr. Ahmed Hussein disclosed that his department had managed to re-unite 600 children who had been displaced by the post-poll chaos.

“Efforts to re-unite another 53 is on-going”, he added.

Present at the function was the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Vice President and Home Affairs, Amb. Nancy Kirui.

Source: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – 14 April 2008