Children's rights conference set for Naivasha

International child law experts will on Tuesday meet in Naivasha to deliberate on strengthening minors’ access to justice in East Africa.

Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai will open the three day conference that also targets youth in the region at Enashipai Spa & Lodge at 9am.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) CEO Apollo Mboya said the forum comes when reported cases of defilement and criminal child offenders are increasing in the region. “We want to deliberate on ways of ensuring affected minors access justice in line with the Constitution,” Mr Mboya said.

The theme of the conference is "Strengthening Access to Justice for Children and Youth in East Africa rights".

The forum is supported by the Supporting Access to Justice for Children and Youth in East Africa (SAJCEA), the Canadian Government and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA).

“The SAJCEA Program aims to improve access to justice for children within Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania through supporting increased collaboration among key stakeholders in the justice system and their capacity development,” Mr Mboya said.

SAJCEA Project Manager Lilian Njeru said that the regional forum aims to develop effective public legal education for children and youth in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

“The forum is in line with the Constitution which has exclusive provisions on children and the youth,” Ms Njeru said.

The CBA Acting Director for International Development Andrea Redway said the conference aims to improve access to justice for children and youth in East Africa, while the SAJCEA Senior Canadian Technical Advisor Claire McNeil said the workshop has several objectives.

“We want to strengthen access to justice for children in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and also mainstream gender equity in child justice systems in the three countries,” Ms McNeil said, adding that another objective is to assess the needs of children and the youth in the justice system.