By Lucianne Limo
African governments should adopt the Hague Convention on Children, which seeks to protect them from abduction and trafficking.
United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) says many countries have not ratified the convention hence high risks of child trafficking.
So far, only Botswana, Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar and South Africa have ratified the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption, and many countries do not have adequate cross-border legislation.
Senior Government officials from 15 states in the Eastern and Southern Africa region are meeting in Pretoria, South Africa to seek ways of working together to protect children and regulate inter-country adoption.
Although Kenya has ratified the Hague convention, a recent report by United States Department of State, ‘Trafficking in Persons Report 2009’, revealed Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficked persons, including children.
Forced prostitution
It said the persons are trafficked for forced labour and sexual exploitation.
The report further noted Kenyan children are also trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, forced labour in agriculture, cattle herding, in bars, and for commercial sexual exploitation, including involvement in the coastal sex tourism industry.
It noted Kenyan men, women, and children are trafficked to the Middle East and Europe for domestic servitude and forced manual labour.
"Unicef will help all countries to comply with the Hague Convention on Children," said Unicef Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Elhadj As Sy.
Delegates including Kenya’s Director of Children Hussein Ahmed, will explore how these international conventions can translate into a practical inter-State framework to protect children.
Unicef noted many African governments have ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
