A new law on the protection of minors in Kenya, " Children Bill ", is awaiting approval by the government before being examined
A new law on the protection of minors in Kenya, " Children Bill ", is awaiting approval by the government before being examined by Parliament.
It is a period of great ferment for Kenyan legislation on the rights of the child and, in particular, for the protection of minors without families.
Pending approval of the new "Children Bill"
The approval of the new law, "Children Bill" , represents a fundamental step towards the resumption of adoptions in the country and a relaunch of the system for protecting the rights of children in a state of adoptability who are waiting to meet a family that will welcome them, who whether in Kenya or abroad. An important reform of the current system of foreign entities authorized for international adoption which will introduce clearer procedures, both in terms of the requisites required and their fulfillment.
The current law undergoing reform was approved by Kenya in 2001 to comply with the obligations deriving from the African Charter. In 2010, the country also approved major constitutional reforms to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international child protection standards.
The observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and Adolescent
Already in 2016 - to be exact on 21 March - in the document with the " Concluding observations on the periodic reports, from the third to the fifth, presented by the Government of Kenya" ( CRC / C / KEN / CO / 3-5) on the adoption (paragraph 43) the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child had stated that it took note of the communication from Kenya on an imminent lifting of the moratorium on national adoptions, but, at the same time, expressed concern that changes to adoption laws and regulations, including the 2001 Children Act, were still pending or pending.
The recommendations of the Hague Committee and Convention
The Committee had therefore recommended the country more than 4 years ago to give impetus to the amendments to the 2001 "Children Act" and to the other rules on adoptions in line with article 21 of the UN Convention on the rights of the child and of the adolescence which requires member countries to ensure that adoptions take place: in the interests of minors; in compliance with procedures which make it possible to exclude the possibility that an undue material profit for the persons who are responsible for them derives from adoptions; with due consent and in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and preferably in compliance with agreements between states.
On that same occasion, the Committee had recommended Kenya to speed up the process of harmonizing national laws with the 1993 Hague Convention on Cooperation in Intercountry Adoption and to ensure that all the guarantees provided for in the Convention were respected at the adoption of a child even to countries that have not ratified the Convention.