Poverty, Climate Change Among Key Issues Affecting African Child Potential Development
Pupils under Pioneer Child Development Programme entertaining guests during the Day of African Child in Nyeri last Friday. Photo/PAUL WANJIRU
By MKT Reporter
Worth Noting:
- Mwaniki at the same time underscored the importance of collaboration between the government and stakeholders in the private sector in addressing emerging threats namely climate change and radicalization which continue to hinder the proper growth and development of a child.
- “We are now faced with a new crop of challenges which include climate change, radicalization and cyber security. There is need to work with partners to come up with income generating activities and strengthening households so that they are able to take care of their children. There is also need to sensitize the community about violent extremism so that both the parent and the children they do not fall into dangerous spots,” he said.
Stakeholders have been challenged to urgently address various issues affecting the African child.
These include effects of climate change like Poverty, malnutrition and lack of basic learning materials.
An official of Non-government organisation; Pioneer Child Development Programme (PCDP) John King’ori says without collaboration of all the stakeholders, African child will continue to suffer, an issue that limit potential.
King’ori said to address the challenges, his organisation that partner and assist hundreds of vulnerable family in parts of Nyeri, Laikipia and Meru counties had laid out strategies that seek to address the issues.
He pointed out that they have been assisting affected children families with various ways improving their livelihood like farming and at the same time improving infrastructure where children go to school.
During the Day of African Child celebrations held in Nyeri town last Friday, parents asked to create safe spaces in their homes to ensure that they can supervise their children as they interact with technology.
According to Nyeri Director of Children Services, Kung’u Mwaniki, stakeholders in the children welfare sector have identified cyber security as leading threat to child protection. Mwaniki says that even with laws such as the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act and the Children Act 2022, if left unchecked, unsupervised interaction with technology could expose children to online abuse, internet addiction and exposure to harmful content.
“Online child abuse is now real. We are asking parents to supervise their children as they interact with technology so that they know who their children chat with online. Once the parents know this they can ensure that they create spaces for these children to live safely and advance into adults,” said Mwaniki.
Mwaniki at the same time underscored the importance of collaboration between the government and stakeholders in the private sector in addressing emerging threats namely climate change and radicalization which continue to hinder the proper growth and development of a child.
“We are now faced with a new crop of challenges which include climate change, radicalization and cyber security. There is need to work with partners to come up with income generating activities and strengthening households so that they are able to take care of their children. There is also need to sensitize the community about violent extremism so that both the parent and the children they do not fall into dangerous spots,” he said.
Mwaniki was speaking at the D.E.B Muslim Primary and Junior Secondary School in Nyeri during this year’s celebrations of the Day of the African Child. The celebrations are held on the June 16 of each year.
The day provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in advancing children rights and also highlight the challenges that hinder African children from enjoying their rights.
This year, commemoration was themed “Education for All Children in Africa:The Time is Now”, underscoring the importance of equitable, quality and inclusive education for all African children to enable them contribute to the Continent’s sustainable development.
In line with the theme, the Forum for African Women in Education county coordinator, Esther Mutegi said that they are partnering with the Ministry of Education to implement the School Re-entry Policy which will ensure that learners who drop out of school are given an opportunity to complete their education.
“We are doing interventions in schools with teenagers to make sure they remain in school. One of them is the School Re-entry Policy which will allow children who drop out of school for whatever reason to be readmitted and continue with their education and pursue their dreams,” said Ms Mutegi.
On her part, Nyeri Assistant County Commissioner, Daisy Mumbi said the government is committed to availing resources to causes that promote children rights.
Mumbi said that the government was also doubling its efforts in addressing the challenges such as drug abuse, gender based violence, early marriages and female genital mutilation that prevent children rights from being upheld.
Additionally, she said the government has also ramped up the sensitization of both parents and children about the emerging threats of cyber security and radicalization with the aim of equipping them with knowledge on how to protect them from being predated on.
“If we look at the population trends across the world, the African Child bears the biggest population, so the future is reliant on a well-equipped, a well-educated and a well prepared African Child. As a government we are looking at harnessing the strengths of the African Child by availing resources be it in health, education and all other aspects they require for them to grow and develop into formidable human beings in the future,” said Mumbi.
“We are also cautioning parents and children against Violent Extremism and Radicalization which have been on the rise. And just ensuring that our children have a safe space to grow and develop,” she added.
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Brenda Holo