Child Rights Committees
ACE has established area Child Rights Committees that are comprised of respected individuals within the community including retired legal officers, teachers, Chiefs, community and religious leaders, OVC and PLWA representatives. Committee members have been trained on the Rights of the Child and Paralegal issues.
As gatekeepers of the community, committees have been fulfilling the following roles:
- Through public forums, spreading awareness to community members the Rights of the Child and advocating for full community participation in the protection of these rights. In addition, committees have been sensitising community members on the role of the Child Rights Committees.
- Visiting schools to teach children about their rights. Through this introduction with committee members, children are comfortable in the knowledge of where they can go to report cases of child abuse, be it their own or a friends. Most importantly, children are aware that there is a safe person they can go to if they are being abused or neglected, and appropriate action will be taken.
- Identifying cases of child abuse or neglect. Where possible, these cases are solved internally, often with the help of the area Chief who is a committee member, and where necessary the cases are referred to alternate service providers such as the Kenya Human Rights Watch or the Children's Department.
- Volunteer Committee members face issues such as the denial of education, forced labour, early pregnancy and child rape; often meeting with hostility from other community members. Committee members provide their services on a voluntary basis, and often have to reach into their own pockets to pay for costs such as transport, filing police cases and medication for children.
