The tragedy that's children homes in Kenya

The number of Charitable Children Institutions (Children Homes) in Kenya has been on a steady rise in recent years. A 2012 Save the Children report estimated the number of registered children homes in Kenya to be 701 holding a total of 43,286 children. Furthermore, The Department of Children Services had estimated that the number of children in these institutions had risen from 10,568 children in 2004 to 40,506 children in 2010. This coupled with the fact that of most these entities that are mushrooming left, right and centre are not registered or regulated as per the provisions of the Children Act of 200, means that the number of children in these institutions is much higher than these stated figures.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) both of which Kenya has accented to and domesticated through the Children Act of 2001, emphasize that the ideal setting for a child to grow in is a family or at least a community setting. Moreover, research has demonstrated that long term institutionalization of children has negative effects on their growth and development. Children homes do not facilitate an environment where children can develop attachment to a significant adult or caregiver as the case would be in a family environment. The consequences of this lack of attachment to the children include poor cognitive development, poor moral development, lack of empathy, autistic tendencies, self-stimulation and self-harming behaviour amongst others.