Nairobi 9 January 2008
Every night, many people in different parts of Kenya are going to police stations to sleep for the night, because they are afraid of attack. The night before last, about 1000 people slept at Tigoni police station in Nairobi. While they are going to their homes or to work during the daytime they do not feel safe enough to sleep in their own beds at night.
During the past week fear as much as outright attack has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. UNICEF is extremely concerned about what these experiences are doing to Kenya’s children. We know from experience in many countries that fear can have lasting damaging effects on children, and can manifest itself in many ways. Children who are afraid may suddenly begin wetting the bed at night, they may become sullen and withdrawn or may become unexpectedly extrovert, noisy and begin behaving badly.
They may find it extremely difficult to concentrate on their studies at school – and as schools open next week this is something that teachers and parents across Kenya need to look out for. We must expect and prepare to respond to the confusion that many children will feel because of this crisis. We must listen to children, understand their fears, provide them with all the reassurance we can, make sure they are safe and feel safe, make sure they feel loved. Teachers everywhere must be on the look out also for any signs of discrimination among children – we do not want to see replicated in the classroom the terrible prejudices that have been exposed in some of our communities. At school children must also feel safe, feel secure and know that they will not face discrimination because of their ethnicity.
Children are deeply affected when they feel their parents and loved ones, who to most children seem all powerful, are suddenly unable to provide protection. Teenagers who become disillusioned by their parent’s capacity to protect them can become rebellious and even violent themselves.
Tomorrow, the Ministry of Education is meeting with UNICEF and other partners to examine issues and action in response to the emergency in the education sector. This includes response to the critical situation in some schools still occupied by displaced families, ensuring children who have been displaced get access to schools, as well as the longer term issues of helping teachers respond to issues of trauma, discrimination and peace building in the classroom.
During the coming days UNICEF, Save the Children and other agencies will also help the Children’s Department to conduct a series of in-depth child protection assessments in Nairobi, Nakuru and Eldoret. These assessment will gain insight into the challenge and response to separated and lost children, the availability and establishment of safe play and safe sleeping areas, the access of IDP children to school, the participation of children and young people in recovery and the need for phycho-social counselling. The results of these assessments will be used to help inform child protection programmes for children affected by the current crisis.
The good news is that when children receive the right support they can quite rapidly bounce back and recover from trauma. The best news for children though will of course be an end to aggression and the brutal discrimination and prejudices which far too many have witnessed recently.