The Government of Kenya has demonstrated a strong and sustained commitment to protecting children from involvement in armed conflict, anchoring this protection in both domestic legislation and international legal frameworks. Kenya’s legal and policy architecture reflects a comprehensive understanding of children’s rights, particularly the need to prevent recruitment, use, or exploitation of children in armed hostilities, in alignment with its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.

At the domestic level, the Constitution of Kenya (2010) enshrines the rights of the child in Article 53, affirming every child’s right to protection from abuse, neglect, harmful cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment, and hazardous or exploitative labor. These constitutional protections are reinforced by the Children Act (2022), which serves as the primary piece of legislation governing child rights and welfare in Kenya. The Act explicitly prohibits the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, categorizing such acts as serious violations and aligning national law with the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC), to which Kenya is a state party.

The Children Act also provides for protective mechanisms, including child protection units, juvenile justice safeguards, and community-based reintegration services for children who may have been exposed to armed conflict or other forms of exploitation. These provisions are operationalized through various government bodies, including the Department of Children Services, in collaboration with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the National Counter Terrorism Centre, and civil society partners. The KDF, in particular, has implemented child-sensitive vetting procedures to ensure that children are not inadvertently recruited into state forces, and the government has committed to non-recruitment of individuals under 18 for military service.

Kenya’s international engagements further underscore its commitment to child protection in conflict settings. In addition to OPAC, Kenya is a party to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which also prohibits the use of children in armed conflicts. These frameworks obligate the state to take preventive, rehabilitative, and punitive measures to ensure that children are protected from recruitment and provided with care and reintegration services when affected by violence.