Commonwealth News and Information Service (London)
21 April 2004
London — HIV/AIDS and poverty have led to increased numbers of orphans,abandoned children and youngsters living on the streets of Kenya, according to the co-author of a report presented at a workshop in Nairobi in March 2004 organised by the Commonwealth Service Abroad Programme (CSAP) and the Department of Children's Services in Kenya's Ministry of Home Affairs.
The workshop conducted by the two CSAP experts and authors of the report focused on an assessment of the capacities of institutions working with children in difficult circumstances. It was attended by 30 managers of children's homes and non-governmental organisations engaged in caring for abandoned children in Kenya.
"More than a million children in Kenya below the age of 15 have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS," said Cecilia Manyame, a CSAP volunteer expert and co-author of the report, who visited the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK, last week.
Ms Manyame and co-author Kingston Kajese, another CSAP expert, said children's homes and centres in Kenya had few facilities and equipment, and lacked adequately trained personnel. Most were found ignorant of the benefits of registering with relevant government departments, as required by a new law on children in Kenya, and thus adversely affected their delivery of services.
"The homes did not have enough information to help them deal with children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS," said Ms Manyame.
She pointed out that the 16 homes she had visited in Kenya faced financial problems and the lack of trained personnel to provide quality welfare for children in need.
"The managers of children's homes require technical assistance to expand their capacity to lead their own development," Ms Manyame stressed. "By helping them to improve their skills, they will be better able to combine this with the knowledge of their socio-economic environment to provide the help needed by their communities."
Julius Kaberere, the Chief Programme Officer of CSAP, which is a volunteer-based programme of the Secretariat, said theNairobi workshop highlighted different methods of care and support in the communities affected by HIV/AIDS.
"Social protection systems are important to support families,particularly the poor who face the problems of caring for orphaned children," said Mr Kaberere. "The devastating effect of HIV/AIDS has contributed to the rise in the number of children growing up outside the family. This is troubling. It is an unhealthy situation and the properly trained managers of these homes can help to address this issue and deal with the increasing numbers of orphaned and street children, while bringing new approaches to the management of these vital institutions."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2004 Commonwealth News and Information Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
