United Nations Radio

Kenyan children

PRES: In Kenya, nearly 2 and a half million children have lost one or both parents, the majority of them to the AIDS epidemic. Most of these children continue to live with their extended families. In response to this situation, Kenya began a cash transfer programme for orphans and other vulnerable children in 2004. It was one of the first of its kind in Africa. Ahmed Hussein, Director of Children's Services for the Government of Kenya, tells UNICEF's Amy Costello how the programme started and how it has grown.

Hussein: We found ourselves in a situation, where we are having 2.4 million children, growing by the day, 60% of them orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS. And then we thought the best thing would be to take care of the children within the community, within the family, and that we also realize that as a measure of being able to support them, the best thing would be to give them some basic, minimum financial support, to take care of the whole family and provide them with livelihood that will enable them to take care of the children, take the children to school, take them for immunization, and of course, in the end hope that in the end we will deal with an overall objective of reducing extreme poverty, as well as economic and social vulnerability.

Costello: And Mr. Hussein, when you talk about cash transfer initiatives in Kenya - how much does a family need in Kenya that can help them raise their AIDS affected children?

Hussein: I would assume slightly over $50 to $100 would be enough for a family to take good care of the children within their family, depending on the number. But because we are cash-constrained, and because the number of orphans are very many, and that the families we are talking about are also huge, now we are giving about $23 per family per month.

Kenyan children lining up to collect school lunch

Costello: And do problems arise when there's this kind of focus on HIV and AIDS and those impacted by it, because what about the people who have remained HIV-negative and are still struggling themselves, and in places like Kenya and all over Africa, in many parts of the developing world, there's plenty of people affected by many issues who are also in need of help. How do you resolve that?

Hussein: I think when we started we were thinking of orphans and vulnerable children as a result of HIV and AIDS, but we have grown out of that now and we are looking at the orphan in totality. So the thing is we used HIV and AIDS as an entry and the majority of children are orphaned as a result of that. But there are quite a number of other children, when we approach the community and look for the poorest of the poor, then the other children will also be taken into the families, and will be taken into the programme. So when we look at the programme right now, it is not targeting a hundred percent children orphaned by HIV and AIDS, but there are children, who have lost parents to other causes, but are in a very vulnerable situation, if both parents have died and the children are living with their younger brother, they are taken on board.

Costello: What advice would you have for other nations in a similar situation, who are interested in initiating a cash transfer programme. What are the most important things for them to do, in order to succeed in a successful programme like yours?

Hussein: I think the first one will be to define and determine the target group - very important; put the necessary structures and the necessary documentation in place - like policy, like clear mission, clear vision and that you get the necessary political support up front; put the necessary systems - the management information system, the manuals for running the programme, the human capacity and all the things that you will require to do the programme well, so that you are in a position to deliver the resources, the services to the people who need it most, and who are described in your programme document.

PRES: Ahmed Hussein, Director of Children's Services for the Government of Kenya speaking to UNICEF's Amy Costello.

Producer: Amy Costello
Duration: 3'15"