Nairobi: The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is reviewing the National Policy on the Elimination of Child Labour (Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2015) to strengthen measures for protecting children from emerging forms of exploitation and child labour. According to Kenya News Agency, the review seeks to establish a comprehensive multi-stakeholder framework that brings together government agencies, employers, communities, families, faith-based organisations, and civil society groups in preventing and eliminating child labour.
Speaking during a public participation forum on the review of the policy in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, Deputy Labour Commissioner Grace Mweresa emphasized that changing economic and social realities had created new vulnerabilities that require regular review of government policies. She highlighted that views gathered from stakeholders would inform the development of a stronger, responsive, and evidence-based policy framework capable of addressing emerging forms of child labour.
Mweresa pointed out that children continued to face risks in sectors such as fishing, transport, mining, and other informal activities, where cases of child labour could remain hidden and difficult to detect. She stressed the need for authorities to establish where children were working, why they were engaged in such activities, who was employing them, and the factors making them vulnerable.
The public participation exercise, Mweresa noted, was not intended to provide a platform for government officials to dictate solutions but to allow communities and other stakeholders to share their experiences and propose practical interventions. She called for stronger coordination among institutions responsible for child protection, emphasizing that a multi-sectoral approach was necessary to identify and address hidden forms of child labour.
She urged stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of existing interventions, facilitate the removal of children from exploitative work, and ensure they have access to education, healthcare, and social protection. Mweresa also called for measures to address vulnerabilities affecting children in informal settlements, transit areas, and communities exposed to migration-related risks.
Uasin Gishu stakeholders, led by County Labour Officer Carolyne Chemursoi, called for increased resources for the Children Services Department to strengthen interventions targeting vulnerable children. They proposed the establishment of a child protection desk at every police station to ensure child-related cases receive specialized attention.
The stakeholders further called for stronger grassroots administrative structures, including Nyumba Kumi, to help identify and prevent child labour within communities. Chemursoi emphasized that efforts to combat child labour should begin at the family level by ensuring children’s basic rights are met.
Stakeholders acknowledged that the existing National Policy on the Elimination of Child Labour had contributed to stronger enforcement teams on the ground, renewed national leadership, support for vulnerable families, increased inspections, and international commitment to eliminating child labour. However, they identified weak enforcement, hidden forms of child labour, inadequate coordination among agencies, and insufficient funding as some of the challenges limiting implementation of the current policy.
They stressed the necessity of the policy review, citing increased exploitation of children through the internet, fake job recruitment schemes, and abuse through mobile phones and social media platforms as emerging threats requiring stronger interventions. Additionally, they noted that climate change, droughts, and floods were increasing the vulnerability of poor households, with some families being forced to send children to work or enter early marriages.
The COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged school closures, coupled with rising poverty, were also factors that pushed more children into work. Stakeholders further observed that more children were increasingly engaged in urban informal activities such as hawking, waste picking, and domestic work.
They advocated for the current policy to reflect Kenya’s emerging national and international commitments, including the Durban Call to Action (2022), Sustainable Development Goal 8.7, and the Children Act, 2022. Aligning the policy with these legal and international frameworks would strengthen Kenya’s response to child labour and ensure emerging forms of exploitation were effectively addressed.
