Since 1982 we've been helping Kenyan children to access their rights to health, education and sanitation, and to live free from harm. Our presence is critical here: children make up about half of Kenya's population.
Kathina, 4, eats a meal of maize porridge and salted herbal leaves.
Kiyuva separates empty maize grains from nutritious ones to make a meal.
Challenges
Poverty in Kenya is being fuelled by several factors, among them high unemployment, an HIV and AIDS epidemic and an education system in crisis.
Children are suffering as a consequence:
- Most children miss out on an education. Girls are less likely than boys to be educated and are often married off at an early age.
- Poor healthcare is resulting in high child mortality rates.
A girl plants a tree to mark International Disaster Risk Reduction Day.
What We're Doing
We're providing life's essentials – clean water, sanitation and quality healthcare – and making sure children get a quality education by building schools and helping more children to attend school.
It's a hand up, not a hand out, as communities are actively involved in their own development. We're working in partnership to prevent the spread of HIV and caring for those already affected by the virus. We’re also collaborating with families to find pathways out of poverty, from investing in training so that they can increase crop yields, to providing financial support through savings and loans groups.
Protecting children remains a priority: we're campaigning against child labour, child marriage and abuse and defending children's rights to healthcare and education, making sure children's voices are heard in the process.
Help spread the word
Share this page with your friends on your social networks. The more people who hear about our child rights agenda, the more impact our work has.