Promoting child rights in Kenya - Pelastakaa Lapset ry

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The Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Bill, 2010The principle object of this Bill is to amend the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2003 so as to ensurethat persons with albinism are recognized amongst the categories of persons identified as beingdisadvantaged under the Act. The term “albino” has been replaced with “albinism” which is notderogatory. 48 It also connotes the fact that albinism is a health condition deserving of treatment likeany other. Children living with albinism have fallen prey to traffickers who target them for their bodyparts for witchcraft.The Bill also seeks to include a person with albinism in the membership of the NationalDevelopment Fund for Persons with Disabilities and the proposed Commission.Challenges associated with the implementation of the Act The Act does not differentiate between children and adults which affects specificinterventions for children. The Act does not provide for early detection of disability and therefore children do not enjoythe rights provided under the Act as early as they should. Early detection and rehabilitationminimizes costs associated with treatment as well as the emotional stress suffered by thechildren and their caregivers. The Act omits provisions on abuse and exploitation of persons with mental andpsychosocial disabilities in spite of the fact that rape and defilement of children withdisabilities is rampant. Even though rehabilitation of persons with disabilities is one of its primary objects the Actfails to make provision for the same. The tax exemptions provided for are at the discretion of the treasury department andavailability of finances.4.5.4 The Counter Trafficking in Persons Act, 2010Kenya has been identified as a source, transit, and destination country for children, men andwomen who are forced to work under difficult circumstances. Children are trafficked and forced towork as domestic workers in people’s homes where they are at risk of sexual exploitation, in theagriculture sector, sex tourism and in petty trade among others. Due to the worsening situation itwas felt that there was need to have a specific law to address trafficking of persons as well asaddress emerging trends that current laws did not address. After several consultative meetingsamong stakeholders The CRADLE took the initiative to draft a Trafficking in Persons Bill. Theorganisation worked together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), FIDA Kenya,Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK), United Nations Office in Drug Control (UNODC),the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice to refine the draft. The British HighCommission also supported activities aimed at establishing the extent of the problem in thecountry. IOM supported capacity building workshops for both government and civil society as partof lobbying advocacy for the enactment of the law. During these workshops experts in the field oftrafficking from countries such as South Africa shared experiences.48A person with any disability is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect and to be addressed and referred to in a manner thatis not demeaning (Article 54 (1) The Constitution of Kenya, 2010.40
Upon finalization the Bill was handed over to the Attorney General in May 2006 and became law in2010. It took a lot of lobbying effort to have the law enacted mainly due to competing interests inparliament where political issues tend to take precedence over other issues.Some of the measures undertaken by government to implement the Act include the following:National Steering Committee on Counter Trafficking in PersonsThis Committee, which was established in 2007 before the Act was enacted has representationfrom various government ministries and departments, civil society organizations such as TheCRADLE and development partners. Its role is to coordinate national efforts towards combatinghuman trafficking in Kenya. The Committee was instrumental in the development of the NationalPlan of Action for Combating Trafficking in Persons (2008 - 2013) which focuses on prevention,awareness raising, legislative reform, victim protection, law enforcement co-operation, training andexchange of information on the issue.Capacity building for stakeholdersThe CRADLE has developed a manual to train stakeholders including members of parliament,lawyers, religious leaders, the police, trade unionists and members of civil society organizations onissues related to trafficking. The objective of the trainings has been to sensitize stakeholders aswell as build their capacity. It is hoped that those trained will in turn sensitize communities theywork in to ensure that vulnerable children are not trafficked under the guise of offers for educationor other support only to end up in exploitative situations.Sensitisation campaignsThe media has been instrumental in creating awareness on the salient features of child trafficking.A few years ago an infomercial on Trafficking in Persons developed by The CRADLE was aired onone of the leading national television channels during prime time and this ensured wide viewership.IEC materials developed by the organisation on trafficking include a children’s comic book, Infopacksfor MPs and desk calendars.Programs on child traffickingANPPCAN runs a project on anti-child trafficking which aims at minimising and eventuallyeliminating child trafficking. Through the project action-oriented studies have been undertaken, thelevel of awareness on child trafficking among different stakeholders has been increased throughsensitisation campaigns and through this the capacity of key actors enhanced. Networking andalliances to address the issue have also been established with likeminded partners.Challenges Most of the initiatives in place to address trafficking in persons are not widely knownamong stakeholders. Children who drop out of school due to various reasons such as poverty are susceptible totrafficking.41
Page 5: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe United Nations
Page 8 and 9: The team held several consultation
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Page 56 and 57: REFERENCES1. African Charter on the
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Promoting child rights in Kenya - Pelastakaa Lapset ry

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