Turkana deputy governor, Dr John Erus, had raised concern over the current increase in child led families in Kakuma.
Speaking during the signing ceremony of an MoU between the County Government and Childline Kenya, Dr Erus said a majority of the affected cases involve underage children from the host community becoming parents at an early age.
The three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Childline Kenya aims at strengthening child protection services and improving emergency response mechanisms for vulnerable children across the county.
The partnership will support the establishment of a social services call centre and enhance the capacity of service providers to prevent and respond to child protection concerns within communities.
Dr. Erus reiterated the need for development partners and non-governmental organizations to remain focused on the objectives outlined in signed agreements to ensure effective service delivery to residents.
He also emphasized the importance of leveraging existing county structures to strengthen the implementation and sustainability of child protection services.
“Protecting children is a collective responsibility and partnerships such as this one are important in strengthening systems that respond to the needs of vulnerable children and communities,” said Dr. Erus.
Childline Kenya Executive Director, Martha Sunda, said the partnership will help strengthen community-based child protection systems and improve access to timely social emergency response services for children and families in need.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by County Attorney Ruth Emanikor, Chief Officer for Resource Mobilisation, Partnerships, and Donor Coordination Janerose Tioko, Director for Social Protection James Ekanyuku and Director for Partnerships Raphael Logum.
The Childline Kenya delegation was led by Amb. Lemarron Kaanto and included Joachum Kamau and Njeri Njoroge.
By Peter Gitonga
