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Kenya: 2.4 Million Orphans Risk Neglect, Says Minister
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The Nation (Nairobi)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Walker Mwandoto
Nairobi
Out of 18 million children, Kenya has a total of 2.4 million orphans, a Government survey has revealed.
And according to the Gender and Children Affairs minister Esther Mathenge, "These children represent the most vulnerable members of our society because they have no voice to defend their rights.
"Too often they are neglected, exploited and discriminated against," she said.
The Government is carrying out a cash transfer programme in 37 districts in order to provide "regular and predictable" transfer of cash to families living with orphans and vulnerable children, she said.
Quoting the Government report, Ms Mathenge said many children are vulnerable due to various factors that "require urgent measures" to re-integrate them into society.
Speaking during the marking of World Orphans Day at Ganze primary school in Ganze constituency, Ms Mathenge said there were 13,280 households in Kenya caring for orphans.
This, she said, will encourage the families to foster and retain the children.
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Extended
The theme for this year's celebrations was I too have the right to respect.
The minister said that in the African traditional society, orphans were taken care of by the extended family, but lamented that the socio-cultural and economic changes have weakened family ties.
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