Some 100 parents from across Marsabit have completed an intensive Child Protection Volunteer training programme, signalling a growing movement to confront deeply entrenched practices that continue to threaten the region’s children.
The training, implemented by Compassion International Kenya, seeks to strengthen community-level protection systems, improve reporting of abuse and embed awareness of legal consequences for neglect or harm
Parents were taken through key child-protection frameworks, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, Kenya’s Children Act 2022 and global obligations under SDG 16.
For many, the course marked a personal reckoning. Graduate Josephine Kulate admitted that cultural norms had long shaped harmful parenting practices she had never questioned.
“We violated rights, thinking we were protecting our traditions. Now I know culture cannot be used to harm a child,” she said.
Another trainee, Joseph Baillu, pledged to take the campaign further by educating parents and challenging practices that endanger minors.
Compassion International’s Marsabit programme manager Joseph Diba said the training confronts realities too often ignored, noting that children in Marsabit “carry scars patterned by their environment,” where early marriage, female genital mutilation, twin infanticide in remote communities, trafficking, child labour and indoctrination into livestock theft remain widespread.
Child protection specialist Jael Kamaki said pastoralist children endure layered vulnerabilities and emphasised the central role of parents, state institutions and community leaders in safeguarding minors. She insisted that every child—regardless of birthplace or mobility—deserves equal protection.
Laisamis subcounty Director of Children Services Moses Lolochum echoed the concerns, saying children’s suffering is often buried beneath drought emergencies, conflict and cultural norms that treat minors as clan assets rather than rights-holders.
He highlighted the influence of customary courts, where elders frequently prioritise community cohesion and compensation over justice for violated children, especially in cases of sexual violence, forced marriage or serious physical harm.
Marsabit deputy commissioner Martin Buluma warned that persistent violations are eroding children’s potential and dignity.
“When a society normalises violations, it undermines not just individual futures but national development, peace and security,” he said.
by STEPHEN ASTARIKO
