Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to join you all for the 35th anniversary celebrations of the Faith Homes of Kenya. I take this early opportunity to thank the entire fraternity of the Faith Homes of Kenya for the proud record of 35 years of service to orphans and vulnerable children. I note, with much gratitude, that on this occasion, the Faith Homes of Kenya will open another Sunflower Children's Home and a Girls' Dormitory. Through these additional facilities, yet more of our children will have a home and an opportunity to learn and become productive citizens.

I am also encouraged to note that on this occasion, we shall raise funds in support of Faith Homes of Kenya charity work among children. The future of orphans and vulnerable children lies in our hands. It is, therefore, our moral duty to join hands and ensure they have safe, healthy and productive childhoods. This commitment to raise funds is, therefore, a stirring affirmation of hope and confidence that through our joint efforts, we shall be able to give vulnerable children a fair chance in life.

Indeed, the need for collaborative efforts in support of vulnerable children cannot be overemphasized. This will perhaps be best appreciated when we note that according to estimates by UNICEF, roughly one in every five children aged 12-17, and one in every six children aged 6-11, were orphans in 2005. Further estimates by UNICEF project that by 2010, around 12 per cent of all children in Sub-Saharan Africa will be orphans. In Kenya today, it is estimated that 2.4 million children are orphans.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you are all aware, the crisis facing orphans requires long-term strategies based on the five core principles outlined in the 2004 Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV and AIDS. These core principles include strengthening the capacity of families to protect and care for children by prolonging the lives of parents; mobilizing community-based responses; ensuring that orphans and vulnerable children have access to essential services, improving policy and legislation on children and channeling resources to families to cater for vulnerable children.

I am happy to note that our Government has taken steps in the direction of each of these five core principles. As regards legislation and policy, our Government has enacted the Children's Act 2001 that seeks to enforce and protect the rights of children. With respect to policy, a National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable Children has been developed and a National Plan of Action for its implementation developed. These measures have provided a suitable legal and policy framework for addressing the challenge of orphans and vulnerable children.

As pertains to channeling resources, the Government has initiated the Cash Transfer Program in which money is transferred every month to each family fostering orphans. This program aims at strengthening the capacity of families to raise orphans at the community level through provision of basic necessities. It is encouraging to note that the Government has increased financial allocation to this program from 48 million Kenya Shillings during the 2005/2006 Financial Year to 169 million Kenya Shillings in the current Financial Year. I am happy to note that this program has eased the burden of caring for orphans and has resulted in improved school attendance by orphans and vulnerable children. The Government is seeking to make more funds available for vulnerable children by setting up an Orphaned and Vulnerable Children's Fund.

Our Government has also taken measures to ensure that orphans and vulnerable children have access to essential services. These services include free basic education for primary school going children and free medial care for children under the age of five. The Government is also providing free drugs for killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Other measures include the provision of free treated mosquito nets that have reduced child deaths from malaria by more than 40 per cent over the last five years.

As regards community mobilization and responses, I am glad to note that communities, civil society, private firms, charitable organizations and non-Governmental organizations have played a key role in providing care to vulnerable children. While I commend all the organizations involved in children programs, I urge them to strive to do much more in order to cater for the increasing number of orphans.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to point out that empowering women in the political arena has the potential to change the circumstances of children. The involvement of women in governing bodies at the national and local levels leads to policies and legislation that are focused on children. Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence that women in politics have been especially effective advocates for children by sponsoring legislation and spearheading policy changes that reflect the rights, priorities and experiences of women, children and families.

In Rwanda, where 48 per cent of Parliamentarians are women, for example, women parliamentarians played a critical role in the passage of a law establishing the right of women to inherit land for the first time in 1999. This activism on the part of women legislators in Rwanda is not an exception but a trend that is shaping up in recent times. In South Africa, women parliamentarians pushed through the 1998 Domestic Violence Act, which makes specific references to children. It is, therefore, in the interest of children, women and indeed entire families, that women should be mainstreamed in leadership. Currently, women remain underrepresented in almost all national legislatures and account for just under 17 per cent of parliamentarians worldwide.

In Kenya, the Government's recent attempt towards increasing the number of women in Parliament failed. In spite of this failure, I urge women not to lose hope but to keep up the fight. In particular, I urge women to vote only for those parties that will reserve the largest number of nomination slots for women. I also urge women organizations in the country to encourage women to contest for civic and parliamentary seats in the forthcoming general election. On their part, I challenge women countrywide to use their groups and networks to ensure women contesting for civic and parliamentary seats are elected. Let us use our numerical strength to increase our numbers in institutions of governance.

Thank you and God bless you all.