Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: World Vision will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kenyan Government to establish and strengthen Area Advisory Councils (AACs). The councils will deal with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and child rights issues at a community level in 35 districts.
The councils will deal with orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and child rights issues at a community level in 35 districts. The signing of this MOU will be a great milestone, as World Vision will be the first non-governmental organisation to facilitate the council’s mandate widely at the community level due to the already existing network of Area Development Programs in the 35 districts. The establishment of AACs is part of the National Council for Children Services’ (NCCS) five-year strategic plan (2005 - 2009) to realise and safeguard the rights and welfare of the child in Kenya through the implementation of the Children Act. The AACs, which are legal institutions, will play the role of Community Care Coalitions as outlined in the World Vision HIV/AIDS strategy in taking care of OVC. The Children Act was established in March 2002. It provides legal framework for the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children in Kenya. NCCS was instituted through the Act as a legal institution to coordinates, supervise and advise the government on all issues regarding the rights and welfare of children at the national level. Through the partnership, World Vision will work together with the Department of Children Services to implement the Children Act which among other issues states that no child will be subjected to any form of discrimination on the ground of origin, sex, religion, creed, custom, language, opinion, conscience, colour, birth, social or other status, race, disability, tribe and residence or local connection. The Act also outlaws female genital mutilation (FGM), as well as child prostitution and child labour, among other forms of child abuse. The Act encompasses the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.