By Cynthia Khanijiri As you drive along the Nakuru–Eldoret highway, a familiar scene plays out daily. Very young children line up along the roadside, while some run after cars and public service vehicles selling sugarcane, roasted maize, water bottles, among other things. In the eyes of a passerby, it may seem like a harmless hustle, even an admirable initiative. Those who have a bit of conscience may sympathize with them, and that’s the end of it. As harmless and as insignificant as it may seem, it continues to be a deeper crisis that Kenya continues to normalize, child labor. It’s easy to overlook. After all, millions of children in Kenya attend school, and the assumption that the child labor crisis is under control persists. But if you take a closer look, you will realize that some of those same children will leave class and head to building sites. Others will rise before dawn to sell goods on the roadside, or spend weekends helping parents in quarries, or gold mines. Worse still,...
By: Susan Nzomo At Loyola Centre for Media and Communications, we empower children to explore the crucial relationship between media and the environment, to help them uncover how storytelling through media can ignite change and amplify their voices for environmental rights. The mentorship sessions offered by LCMC to these children highlight the importance of selecting impactful media channels and examine globally recognized campaigns like Greta Thunberg's 'Fridays for Future,' World wild Fire (WWF) Earth Hour, and Kenya's national Tree Growing Fund initiated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta. These examples are very crucial to illustrate how collective action and strategic media use can push environmental issues to the forefront of public discourse. This hands-on approach aligns with the UN General Comment No. 26 (UNGC-26) on children’s rights and the environment, which emphasizes the right of children to participate in environmental decision-making processe...