Abstract
The slow progress characterizes almost all realms of quality of life indicators in Kenya. Also in terms of the ‘child-friendliness’ index, the country has been slipping. Legislation is perfectly in tune with the Child Rights Convention, but daily practice is obstinate. Some overall indicators suggested that the situation is quite appalling in terms of violence against children. A benchmark survey in city slums in the capital and in the coastal villages gives evidence of the stark poverty and the limited access to institutions and basic infrastructure. Gross enrolment in school is not matched by net enrolment and the quality of teaching is bad, leading to a highly divergent class-age match. Most children like being in school, the gateway to a modernising world, but they dislike many of its aspects. Teachers are being accused of being lazy and disinterested and particularly of an exceedingly rough and punitive behaviour. The exposure to violence was a quite common experience, at home, on the way to and from school and in school. Low performance of children is associated with the malfunctioning learning environment and to the material conditions. Children apparently were not aware of the rights propagated by the CRC and had their own priorities for a proper childhood, particularly food, housing and education.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
ACPF. (2006). Violence against Girls in Africa: A retrospective Survey in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Addis Ababa: African Child Policy Forum.
ACPF. (2008). The African report on child wellbeing. Addis Ababa: The African Child Policy Forum.
ACPF. (2013). The African report on child wellbeing. Towards a greater accountability to Africa’s children. Addis Ababa: The African Child Policy Forum.
Black, M. (2004). Opening minds, opening up opportunities. Children’s participation in action for working children. London: Save the Children.
Boyden, J. & Levison, D. (2000). Children as economic and social actors in the development process. Stockholm, EGDI, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (working paper 2000, 1).
Bradley, C., et al. (1997). African families and the crisis of social change. Bergin & Garvey: Santa Barbara.
Brown, D. R., et al. (2006). Livelihood strategies in the rural Kenyan highlands. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 1(1), 21–36.
Buchmann, C. (2000). Family structure, parental perceptions, and child labor in Kenya: What factors determine who is enrolled in school? Social Forces, 78(4), 1349–1378.
Child Helpline International. (2012). Connecting to children: A compilation of child helpline data. Amsterdam: Child Helpline International.
Economic Survey. (2013). Economic survey highlights. Nairobi: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Hart, J., Newman, J., & Ackermann, L. (2004). Children changing their world. Understanding and evaluating children’s participation in development. Surrey: Plan International.
IAWGCP. (2008). Children as active citizens. A policy and programme guide. Commitments and obligations for children’s civil rights and civic engagement in East Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok: Inter-Agency Working Group On Children’s Participation (Ecpat International, Knowing Children, Plan International, Save The Children Sweden, Save The Children UK, UNICEF & World Vision).
James, A., Jenks, C., & Prout, A. (1998). Theorising childhood. Cambridge: Polity Press.
James, A., & Prout, A. (1990). Constructing and reconstructing childhood. London: Falmer Press.
Kenya VACS (2012). Violence against children in Kenya. Findings from a 2010 National Survey. Nairobi: Government of Kenya.
Kenya Central Bureau of Statistics. (2003). Kenya demographic and health survey 2003. Nairobi: Ministry of Planning and National Development.
Kenya Ministry of Education. (2008). The development of education—National report of Kenya. Nairobi: Ministry of Education.
Kenya Ministry of Health. (2008). Facts and figures at a glance: Health and health related indicators. Nairobi: Division of Policy and Planning, Ministry of Health.
Lieten, G. K., & Khasnabis, R. (2011). Children in Kenya: A status report. Leiden: IREWOC.
Mulinge, M. M. (2002). Implementing the 1989 United Nations’ convention on the rights of the child in sub-Saharan Africa: The overlooked socio-economic and political dilemmas. Child Abuse and Neglect, 26, 1117–1130.
Mulinge, M. M. (2010). Persistent socio-economic and political dilemmas to the implementation of the 1989 United Nations’ convention on the rights of the child in sub-Saharan Africa. Child Abuse and Neglect, 34, 10–17.
Nafula, N. N. (2002). Achieving sustainable universal primary education through debt relief: The case of Kenya. Helsinki: WIDER (discussion paper no. 66).
O’Malley, K. (2004). Children and young people participating in PRSP processes. Lessons from Save the Children’s experiences. London: Save the Children.
Odongo, O. G. (2004). The domestication of international standards on the rights of the child: A critical and comparative evaluation of the Kenyan example. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 12(4), 419–422.
OMCT. (2008). The life of the land. Addressing the economic, social and cultural root causes of torture and other forms of violence in Kenya. An alternative report to the committee on economic, social and cultural rights prepared by the World Organisation against torture (OMCT). Geneva: World Organisation against Torture.
Percy-Smith, B. & Thomas, N. (Eds.) (2010). A handbook of children and young people’s participation: Perspectives from theory and Practice. Oxon: Routledge.
Qvortrup, J. (Ed.). (1994). Childhood matters. Aldershot: Avebury.
Sanders, R., & Mace, S. (2006). Agency policy and the participation of children and young people in the child protection process. Child Abuse Review, 15, 89–109.
Save the Children. (2002). Shaping a country’s future with children and young people. National plans of action for children involving children and young people in their development. London: Save the Children.
Save the Children. (2010). Regional study on children’s participation in Southern Africa: South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. Stockholm: Save the Children Sweden.
Suda, C. (2001). The invisible child worker in Kenya: The intersection of poverty, legislation and culture. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 10(2), 163–175.
UNDP. (2008). Human development report 2007/2008. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
UNICEF. (2003). The state of the world’s children. New York: UNICEF.
UNICEF. (2012). Violence against children in Kenya: Findings from 2010 national survey. UNICEF and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics: Nairobi.
UNICEF. (2014). The state of the world’s children. Every child counts. Revealing disparities, advancing children’s rights. New York: UNICEF.
Whiting, B. (1977). Changing life styles in Kenya. The Family, 106(2), 211–225.
World Vision UK. (2000). Child participation: Challenges of empowerment. London: World Vision (discussion papers no. 9).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lieten, G.K. (2015). Children in Kenya. In: Victims of Obtrusive Violence. SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22807-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22807-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22806-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22807-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)