21,000 Children Sent Away From Homes

A section of street children in Nairobi.
A section of street children in Nairobi.
Twitter

Over 21,000 children have been sent away from their foster homes due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Standard, on Monday, December 7, reported that the children constitute nearly half of all the children housed in homes across the country.

The charitable homes explained that the children were released to mitigate the negative effects of Covid-19 virus that has affected the country for the last nine months.

National Council For Children Services (NCCS) official Ken Owino explained that NCCS had to find a way to re-integrate the children back into the community.

Street children living in Nairobi.
street children living in Nairobi.
File

He further indicated that most charitable homes were overpopulated and could not properly observe the Covid-19 measures laid out by the Ministry of Health.

He also revealed that the cost of running the homes was affected by a sharp decline of donor funding with some institutions forced to skip a meal.

“They relied on external donor funding which was not sustainable due to the global economic impact of the pandemic. Some of them did not even have space for social distancing," he explained.

A number of homes were forced to send the children back to their aging parents or abusive community homes.

“We were depending on corporates, friends and donors to support us. When Covid-19 happened, they could no longer afford to help. Everything happened so fast.

"I had to have the uncomfortable talk with the children when they asked if people will come to celebrate Christmas with them like they did in previous years. I told them not to expect much,” said one official from a community shelter.

The country has over 48,000 children living in 591 charitable homes.

Kenya has also recorded over 3.6 million orphans with Migori and Siaya leading in the sector.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, the government set aside Ksh10 billion to help orphans and vulnerable families.

Nairobi residents pictured at Kenya National Archives section of Nairobi CBD
Nairobi residents pictured at Kenya National Archives section of Nairobi CBD.
Twitter