NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Amid a growing push among child welfare organizations to reunite families rather than keep children in institutional homes, Kenyan authorities are set to adopt a new national program that will phase out traditional orphanages over the next decade.Church leaders in the country, whose denominations run hundreds of orphanages, have expressed support for the plan, saying children’s homes have exposed children to abuse. Other faith leaders back private institutional operators in opposing the change.
Roman Catholic Bishop Willybard Kitogho Lagho of Malindi said the Catholic Church supports the government plan because many of the institutions are no longer safe for children.
“There have been a lot of abuses in these homes,” said the bishop. “Children have been sexually, physical and emotionally abused. There have also been cases of child trafficking.” Some orphanages, he alleged, were founded by “unscrupulous people who want to gain from donor funding.”
The treatment of orphans in Africa has come under fire in recent years as recent studies have shown that as many as half of children in six low-income countries on the continent have been abused. While some better-funded homes provide education that children could not get in their home villages, many children in residential care show signs of developmental delays and neglect.
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Roman Catholic Bishop Willybard Kitogho Lagho of Malindi said the Catholic Church supports the government plan because many of the institutions are no longer safe for children.
“There have been a lot of abuses in these homes,” said the bishop. “Children have been sexually, physical and emotionally abused. There have also been cases of child trafficking.” Some orphanages, he alleged, were founded by “unscrupulous people who want to gain from donor funding.”
The treatment of orphans in Africa has come under fire in recent years as recent studies have shown that as many as half of children in six low-income countries on the continent have been abused. While some better-funded homes provide education that children could not get in their home villages, many children in residential care show signs of developmental delays and neglect.
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