Nyeri: Gender, Culture and Children Services Cabinet Secretary, Hanna Cheptumo, announced plans to begin reintegrating street families back into society. The initiative, aimed at transforming the lives of street families across all 47 counties, will be overseen by a special committee within the Street Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund.
According to Kenya News Agency, Ms. Cheptumo emphasized the government's commitment to reuniting street dwellers with their families and enrolling children in educational programs. For adults, the focus will be on providing technical and vocational training to facilitate self-sufficiency and community integration. 'As part of care reforms, the Ministry will soon roll-out the street families' re-integration program. This is where we will take all street children off the streets and where possible all of them will be re-united with their families because everybody deserves to be in a family,' she stated.
The initiative targets approximately 46,639 individuals identified in the 2018 national street families census. The census revealed high concentrations of street families in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, and Nakuru. It also highlighted that a significant portion of the street population consists of youth aged 19-34 years, followed by children below 19 years.
Education levels among the street families showed that 76% had some basic primary education, and 13,566 individuals possessed vocational skills. The findings underscored the need for educational and skills-based interventions to support successful reintegration into society.
Ms. Cheptumo spoke at an event in Nyeri celebrating International Widows Day and a national Gender Based Violence sensitization forum. The event, themed "Invisible Women, Invisible Problems," drew attention to the challenges faced by widows globally.
Addressing the attendees, Ms. Cheptumo praised the Nyeri County Government for its widow-centric initiatives, including establishing a widow's savings and co-operative society. She encouraged the 65,000 widows in the county to engage with programs offered by both county and national governments to improve their livelihoods.
'I would like to congratulate the Governor of Nyeri, Dr Mutahi Kahiga, for setting-up the Widows Sacco. This Sacco needs to work so that other counties can come here and benchmark. Also, I would like to encourage widows to register themselves in self-help groups because it is only way we will be able to reach you and give you the resources availed through the budget making process,' she stated.
The event was attended by Gender Principal Secretary Anne Wang'ombe, Nyeri Deputy Governor Warui Kinaniri, Nyeri County Commissioner Ronald Mwiwawi, Nyeri Town Member of Parliament Duncan Maina, and Women Representatives Rahab Mukami and Ann Muratha.