Implications of Child Protection Interventions towards the Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Case of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Nairobi County

Whenever there is a breakdown of social order owing to armed conflict or natural disaster, people are forced to flee in search of safety. During flight, Children get separated from their parents and adult care givers rendering them vulnerable to exploitation and unable to enjoy their rights. The 1989 Convention on the rights of the Child (UNCRC) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to protect the rights of children globally regardless of their status or nationality. Consequently, Kenya became a state party to the UNCRC in 1990 yet in 2006, Kenya enacted an encampment policy that restricted refugees to the Dadaab and Kakuma Refugee Camps. In spite of the encampment policy, there are Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URMs) residing in urban locations like Nairobi county. Information deficiency on Child Protection Interventions (CPIs) for URMs in Nairobi county informed the exploratory nature of this study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implications of CPIs for URMs in Nairobi County towards their realization of the provisions of the UNCRC. As such, the study sort to establish the role of various actors in the implementation of CPIs and examined how the implementation of CPIs affected URMs enjoyment of UNCRC provisions as well as the challenges faced by actors in the implementation of CPIs in Nairobi county. Despites the challenges faced in implementation of CPIS for URMs in Nairobi county, the study revealed that implemented CPIs specifically aided the realization of URMs rights to education, shelter, health, tracing, family re-unification, freedom from all forms of discrimination and exploitation. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of implementing international and obligations not only as a compliance measure for state parties but as a right and protection tool for one of the most vulnerable victims of forced migration.