The Role of African Culture in the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Kenyan Experience

The issue of child vulnerability is a concern of many postcolonial African governments. The deplorable conditions under which orphans and other vulnerable children live compounds general family poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and international bodies have passed laws to improve the situation of children. However, this paper will demonstrate, the status of children in Sub-Saharan Africa has continued to deteriorate, thus putting into question the effectiveness of these legislations. With a focus on Kenya, this study explores the possibility of a bottom-up integrated approach that is culturally sensitive in tackling the challenges facing children in Kenya

Global health, COVID-19 and the state in East Africa

What have been the implications of Covid-19 for states in Africa? Has the pandemic accelerated the shift from US-led health governance in a unipolar world to one where the rise of China is increasing the scope for action of global south states? Has it added to the influence of multilateral institutions, most notably the WHO and the African Union? Internally, have states capitalised on Covid-19 to undermine the constitutional orders put in place with the ‘refoundation’ of many African states in the period since the end of the Cold War? Can we draw larger conclusions regarding the capacity and effectiveness of African states internally and externally? These questions are addressed in the present article, focusing on developments in three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda

COVID- 19 and human right to food: Lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya with the impacts of government’s response measures: A participatory qualitative study

Background: Globally, governments put in place measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Information on the effects of these measures on the urban poor is limited. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya in the context of government’s COVID-19 response measures and its impact on the human right to food. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in two informal settlements in Nairobi between January and March 2021. Analysis draws on eight focus group discussions, eight in-depth interviews, twelve key informant interviews, two photovoice sessions and three digital storytelling sessions. Phenomenology was applied to understand an individual’s lived experiences with the human right to food during COVID -19. Thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO software. Results: The human right to food was affected in various ways. Many people lost their livelihoods, affecting affordability of food, due to response measures such as social distancing, curfew, and lockdown. The food supply chain was disrupted causing limited availability and access to affordable, safe, adequate, and nutritious food. Consequently, hunger and an increased consumption of low-quality food was reported. Social protection measures were instituted. However, these were inadequate and marred by irregularities. Some households resorted to scavenging food from dumpsites, skipping meals, sex-work, urban-rural migration and depending on food donations to survive. On the positive side, some households resorted to progressive measures such as urban farming and food sharing in the community. Generally, the response measures could have been more sensitive to the human rights of the urban poor. Conclusions: The government’s COVID-19 restrictive measures exacerbated the already existing vulnerability of the urban poor to food insecurity and violated their human right to food. Future response measures should be executed in ways that respect the human right to food and protect marginalized people from resultant vulnerabilities

'COVID-19 vaccine safety and compensation: The case of Sputnik V’

All vaccines come with medical risks and Kenyans are taking these risks for their protection and that of the wider community. They deserve compensation should they suffer for doing so

Examining the Role of Informal Justice Systems in Child Rights Protection in Kenya: A Case Study of the Kipsigis

This research investigates the extent to which informal justice systems protect and violate children rights and well-being. It involves an empirical study of the Kipsigis community in Kenya. The study revealed how informal and formal justice systems interact to address child abuse in this community and the location of Kipsigis children as both subjects and objects of child abuse. Although formal child protection systems at both domestic and international level consider informal justice systems to be inconsistent with the interest and well-being of the child, many community members among grassroots communities rely on them as the main dispute resolution platforms. Children officers, and other state agents, in recognizing the inadequacy of formal law to resolve some child-related disputes, rely on customary law to resolve the same. The study revealed that the best interest of the child under Kipsigis customary law is guaranteed through; promotion of a harmonious co-existence between the child and the clan/family members; prioritisation of the long-term (rather than short-term) interest of the child; adherence to the customary duties and obligation by the parents; and a contextual understanding of the best interest of the child in which the needs of each child are considered to be different and therefore warranting a child-specific approach. It also established that the ‘wholesale’ condemnation of child labour by international and domestic child rights regimes is counterproductive to the child well-being because it ignores the social construction of child labour and the role that some forms of ‘child labour’ play in integrating the child in the family and guaranteeing other basic services, such as education. The study also observed that child well-being at the grassroots level is guaranteed through the language of care and ordinary virtues rather than rights. Finally, the study revealed the existence of cross-cultural dialogue platforms that seek to reconcile the different conceptions of child well-being at the community level

National Identities in Global Health. Kenya's Vaccine Diplomacy During COVID-19

How do national identities matter in global health? Our paper addresses this question through a study of Kenya’s vaccine diplomacy during COVID-19. It combines critical perspectives, challenging the neglect of African agency in international relations (IR), with constructivist approaches highlighting the importance of discourse in the exercise of agency. Their insight that identity is an important resource in the realization of foreign policy goals is confirmed by our review of interventions by senior Kenyan leaders, as well as ministries and official bodies, concerned with vaccine procurement during the pandemic. This material shows moreover that identity is not pre-given, but rather performed in discourse, being adapted and renewed in speeches, briefings, policy documents and so on. Our study shows moreover that identities are plural, not singular, and that they draw on historic and cultural resources proper to individual states. This allows us to link the range of identities performed during COVID-19 to earlier moments in Kenya’s diplomatic history, noting the continued pertinence of its image, variously, as ‘an island of stability’, ‘a good global health citizen’, ‘a member of the pan-African community of states’ and ‘an active contributor to IR’