Today the Commission joined partners at the National Learning Convening on the Prevention & Response to Harmful Practices — leaders, advocates and frontline workers took stock: wins, gaps and the road ahead for child protection in Kenya.
We celebrate legal and policy milestones — from the Prohibition of FGM Act and stronger marriage laws to the National Prevention & Response Plan — that have helped shift norms and sharpen systems.
Yet data show violence and harmful practices persist; without sustained, ring-fenced financing and county-led implementation those gains risk flattening into rhetoric.
Frontline responders — social workers, health teams, teachers and community volunteers — are the hinge between policy and a child’s safety. Investing in their training, pay, mental-health support and clear, multi-sector referral pathways must be non-negotiable.
National systems like the Child Helpline 116 and strengthened referral networks are vital lifelines, but they need scale, faster data flows and community trust to reach the most vulnerable.
We must also confront newer threats — online abuse, trafficking, and climate-driven displacement — by aligning child protection with digital safety, anti-trafficking action and climate resilience planning.
The road ahead is clear: finance the plan, fortify the workforce, decentralise solutions to counties, centre children’s voices in design, and measure what matters. Today’s convening gave us the map; now we must walk it — together.
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