Strathmore Law School’s Centre for Law and Policy (SCLP), in collaboration with Santander Bank Endowed Chair for Children and the Law at Universidad Pontificia Comillas School of Law (Spain), hosted the 1st Children Rights Symposium at Strathmore University.

This symposium consisted of deliberations on the rights of children with disabilities, and their right to access education. This was done through a number of panel discussions that highlighted and analysed the legal framework in place vis-a-vis the challenges facing children with disabilities in the social, cultural and political contexts.

Children are often discussed by society as weak or commonly disadvantaged. Society fails to remember that they are also protected by certain rights, and that they are social agents who may contribute positively to society. The access to education is discriminatory as disabled children are isolated from other children; education should be inclusive.

In protecting the child, there are plenty of legislative frameworks locally and globally; however, the challenge of enforcement remains. In Kenya, the Ministry of Education understands that additional effort is required to cater for the needs of the disabled to accommodate them adequately. At the symposium different professionals expressed challenges in implementing these laws, and shared their best attempts at solving the issues.
The symposium brought together various stakeholders and was officially opened by the Ambassador of Spain to Kenya, his Excellency Honourable Javier Gracia.