We are proud to support the national scaling-up of implementation of care reform across all regions of Kenya as has been officially launched at a landmark event in Embu town on 30th July 2024.

This event, attended by the Secretary Directorate of Children Services, Mr. Shem Nyakutu, who was representing the Principal Secretary for State Department of Social Protection Mr. Joseph Motari follows the progress made in the phase 1 of the National Care Reform Strategy (2022-2032) with care reform having been initiated in 13 of 47 counties as well as progress made in development of a number implementation documents and tools in Kenya. Embu was county was selected as the venue of this historical event because of continued evidence of encouraging success and progress in implementation of the various aspects of the care reform programme. The multisector and multi-agency collaboration in Embu has seen it become the first county in the country to launch a county-level care reform action plan.

Over 120 participants attended the launch which was preceded by 2 days training and sensitisation on care reform strategy and processes, with progress in Embu County being used as a case study. More than 80 top leaders from all the eight regions of Kenya were represented in the event and drew government participants from National Council for Children Services (NCCS) Street Families Rehabilitation Trust (SFRTF) National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) NCCS, Directorate of Social Development (DSD) Directorate of Children Services (DCS) Child Welfare Society Kenya (CWSK) Judiciary, Education among others agencies across Kenya. The diverse group drawn from Embu County comprised county officials, practitioners, parents, trained foster parents, trained social work case workers, children and community workers.

Representatives from the eight regional made declaration and signed commitment to develop a comprehensive care reform implementation road map to implement holistic and systematic care reform in their regions. NCCS made commitment to monitor the actualisation of the roadmaps regularly to ensure progress and accountability.

The launch saw active participation and commitment from numerous organisations and key stakeholders, including UNICEF, SOS Children's Villages, Stahili Foundation, a Judge of the High Court, the Regional Commissioner for the Eastern Region, the University of Embu, Action Aid and several other eastern region organisations. Lumos and the National Council for Children's Services (NCCS), in collaboration with the Directorate of Children Services (DCS), hosted the event. Financial support for the event was provided by Lumos and UNICEF.

Kenya has made enormous progress in developing policies and laws to support care reform in recent years, and we are delighted to see that it is gaining momentum in the implementation stage, to ultimately enable all children in Kenya children to grow and thrive in a loving family and community environment and realise their full potential.