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7.5 million children all over the world live in charitable children’s institutions, commonly known as children’s homes or orphanages, yet 80 per cent to 90 per cent of these children have a living parent or known relatives. In Kenya, an estimated 45,000 children live in charitable children’s institutions for various reasons such as the loss of a parent or primary caregiver, poverty at home, sickness and disability, violence, abuse, and neglect.
"SOS Children’s village [in Kenya] has apologised for what it terms as 'failures to prevent children from being abused'" in response to the unmasking of "rampant cases of child abuse, corruption and breaches to protect the children's rights" in its Kenya centers, according to this article from the Standard. The organisation's supervisory body "has instructed that an independent Special Commission be established to address past and contemporary cases of failings, including child abuse, corruption, misuse of funds, and breaches of regulations that protect children’s and employees’ human rights…
In this opinion piece for the Standard, Fredrick Mutinda of Changing the Way We Care describes the negative impacts that institutionalization has on children and the efforts to reform the care system in Kenya. "Many governments, including Kenya, are making important strides in reforming national child protection and care systems," says Mutinda. "In 2017, Kenya passed a moratorium on the registration of any new orphanages. With the support of multiple partners, the government has set new policy directions for reducing reliance on orphanages, reunifying children with their families,…
This episode of the Conversation podcast from the BBC features interviews and discussion with two women who grew up in institutions as young children, one in the UK and the other in Kenya.
"What’s it like to grow up away from your family?" asks the episode. "Two women who spent part of their childhoods in care tell Kim Chakanetsa how they look back on that time, and how the experience has shaped them as adults. As a child, Rukhiya Budden experienced terrible neglect and abuse growing up in an orphanage in Kenya. Today she works with Hope and Homes for Children and campaigns for…
In this video, CNN investigates a Kenyan orphanage, which recruited children like Teresia (featured) to gain international funding.
To view this video on CNN's website, please click the link to the right.
A Kenyan High Court ruled that a child had been irregularly adopted by foreigners and ordered the child to be returned to its naturally born parents.
A U.S. federal court has sentenced a former missionary from Oklahoma to 40 years in prison for sexually abusing children at a Kenyan orphanage. His arrest and conviction—one case among several recent instances of overseas abuse—highlights the need for more vetting procedures in international volunteering, experts say.
The Better Care Network's "Better Volunteering, Better Care" initiative is working to discourage international volunteering in residential care homes—a trend BCN director Florence Martin said would be unheard of in the United States. Beyond the …