Kenya National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula Urges UNICEF to Support Boy Child

By Samuel Ouma

Kenya’s National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula has pleaded with UNICEF to consider including the support of the boy child in their advocacy programmes.

According to Wetang'ula,  the boy child is an "endangered species" after most organizations championing the rights of children directed all their arsenals towards girls at the expense of boys.

"The boy child in Kenya is suffering in silence. All efforts have been put on uplifting the girl child. UNICEF should intervene because they have the capacity," said Speaker.

Wetang'ula made the remarks when he hosted UNICEF Kenya Representative Dr. Shaheen Nilofer, who paid him a courtesy call in his office at Parliament Buildings.

"UNICEF has done well in uplifting the girl child. They have gotten the girl from the kitchen to the table, “said Dr. Wetang'ula.

"The boy child has been forgotten in this journey and this might lead to a society that is not balanced," He added.

The Speaker further noted the need to formulate policies to safeguard the boy child's rights for societal equality.

He assured the multinational body that the National Assembly is ready to work with UNICEF to support its programmes to alleviate poverty and ensure societal equality.

"The National Assembly is ready to collaborate and work with UNICEF because the organization is a very important partner to the government," he added.

He observed that UNICEF has been able to operate comfortably in the country because it is a great development partner of the government.

He assured the UNICEF Chief that in his capacity, he would ensure all the Committees relevant to programmes undertaken by UNICEF were available and collaborate to drive their agenda home.

On her part, Dr. Nilofer pointed out that the National Assembly was a critical wing of government, noting that collaboration was necessary for the actualization of their agenda.

"UNICEF has worked closely with ministries and other government entities in our work and collaboration by National Assembly will be a big win for us in our efforts to achieve our goal," she added.

She added that UNICEF had stepped up campaigns to promote children's rights in the country but observed that there was still a lot to be done.

"Kenya has achieved a lot on matters of children rights but it is still worrying that 2.5 million children are out of school because of various reasons," she added.

She noted that they were implementing measures to ensure children access education. She called on the National Assembly's support for the same.

She committed that UNICEF will continue to support various programmes in the Agriculture, Education and Social Protection sectors noting that they were critical to the we'll bring of people.