Child Rights Awareness

This is an outreach program on child rights that seeks to:

• Empower claim holders to seek accountability from duty bearers in the protection of their rights;
• Empower duty bearers to better protect the rights of children;
• Enhance children’s rights to participation;
• Create awareness on the rights of the child.

1. School-Based Outreach Program 
   Girls Safe Horizon and Letter Link Project (Girls SHALL) Project

   These are twin projects. The Safe Horizon is a High School-Based girls’ mentorship, leadership and protection project in secondary schools that works with women leaders. The Letter Link Project is a primary schools-based project that works mainly on child protection through letter link clubs. The CRADLE also runs a child-friendly quarterly magazine and letter boxes are placed in participating schools as a way of ensuring child-participation.

2. Community-Based Outreach Program Paralegal Project and Social Safety Nets

   The CRADLE runs a paralegal project focusing on empowering communities to protect the rights of the child especially in places where there is limited access to justice. A component on Social Safety Nets seeks to protect the rights of orphans and vulnerable children. Legal Bazaars: The CRADLE runs legal bazaars using Participatory Education Theatre and sports. This has been done in areas such as Nyando, Suba and Kwale (with Action Aid).

3. The Media-Based Outreach Program

   This program works through audio-visual media to create awareness on the rights of the child through infomercials, programs on child rights, media monitoring on the rights of the child and Participatory Education Theatre. The CRADLE also publishes several Information, Education and Communication, (IEC) materials on the rights of the child.

4. Advocacy Program The CRADLE has been involved in several advocacy campaigns against child sexual exploitation and abuse, constitutional review and other issues relating to child rights. Each year the organization marks days of significance in the child rights calendar including the 16-Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence; the Day of the African Child; the International Day against Child Abuse; Child Rights Day; Human Rights Day; AIDs day, amongst many others. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Division of Reproductive Heath, The CRADLE and other CSOs worked on a campaign to eradicate sexual violence. One of the key outputs of the process was the development of guidelines on management of rape in health institutions. Liverpool VCT was instrumental in this process. The guidelines have already been distributed to hospitals in Thika, Rachuonyo and Malindi, amongst others. Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women and Girls The CRADLE was one of the launch partners in the Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women, a Global Campaign that was launched in Kenya by UNIFEM at Ngara Girls High School in Nairobi, on 6 November 2009. This campaign is a global call for action on ending violence against women and girls. The UNIFEM Executive Director, Ms. Ines Alberdi accompanined by the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Development, Hon. Esther Murugi together with The CRADLE visited and interracted with members of the SCAR club at Ngara High Schoool with girls, a project on leadership, mentorship and self-protection programmes run by the The CRADLE with support from UNIFEM.