Written by Lisa Murimi
They are the faces behind the numbers—children torn from their homes, trafficked, abandoned, or lost in a system meant to protect them.
A new report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) paints a heartbreaking picture of childhood in crisis.
In 2024, over 3,800 children were displaced and more than 2,000 became victims of trafficking.
These aren’t just statistics—they are shattered lives, children robbed of safety, comfort, and certainty. Compared to just 101 displacement cases in 2023, the surge is staggering.
Violence continues to haunt children, making up nearly 73% of all child protection cases.
“Cases of violence against children also remained high at 72.7 percent, an equivalent of 123.08z of total child protection cases but decreased slightly by 143 per cent from 143,687 in 2023,” the report noted.
Thousands more face legal troubles, custody battles, or live without even basic identification.
Yet, the support systems meant to shield them are faltering. Reports to the Directorate of Children Services dropped by over 10%, and interventions like reunification and legal aid have sharply declined.
Refugee camps are swelling. More than half of Kenya’s 823,000 registered refugees are children, many fleeing conflict in Somalia and South Sudan.
Dadaab alone shelters over 400,000—more than the population of some counties.
These children are growing up in uncertainty, their futures dimmed by fear, neglect, and bureaucracy.
They are not just refugees or statistics—they are sons and daughters, with dreams and the right to be safe, loved, and protected.
The crisis is growing, and the silence is deafening. Kenya must act, not tomorrow, but now, to reclaim the stolen childhoods of its most vulnerable. Before more are lost.
