By Amoto Ndiewo
Save The Children (STC) organization has raised alarm over the high number of learners out of school in drought-stricken North Eastern Kenya with about 150,000 learners out of 492,000 currently out of school.
Speaking at a special three-day child protection awareness workshop in Wajir, STC Wajir Services Coordinator Jilo Roba called on all stakeholders to come up with mechanisms to address the low enrolment and high dropout rate.
He said that the residents ought to share, learn, document and adopt best practices to ensure that their children remain in school.
“Our moral duty is to protect the children and put their best interests first,” said Roba.
Roba added that parents and teachers should collaborate to protect the child at home and in school respectively.
Director of Strategic Intervention for Children in Emergencies at the Department of Children Services in Wajir County, Philip Nzenge called for repositioning of children’s welfare at the forefront of drought mitigation measures including food shortage, school dropout, early marriage and child labour.
“There is need for state and non-state actors to collaborate and address the challenges of child protection. Collective responsibility is needed to address challenges of children from nomadic communities in the arid and volatile North Eastern counties,” he noted.
He further called for repositioning of children’s welfare at the forefront of drought mitigation measures including including food shortage, school dropouts, early marriage and child labour in order to facilitate speedy intervention during emergencies.
He said the awareness on the need for the children’s safety was geared towards children’s protection.
“Since we are vulnerable and interdependent, there is need to standardize and harmonize the child protection process. This can be done through sharing knowledge, experience and creating synergy to strengthen collaboration amongst children protection networks,” he said.
National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) and STC pledged to disburse Ksh.146 million to 8,200 Wajir households through food security and cash transfers for the next three months.
