Kenya is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as well as the African Charter on the Rights and the welfare of the child as well as various other international conventions. The country has gone much further to domesticate this convention through the Children Act, 2001 as demonstration of its commitment towards safeguarding the rights of children who comprise 52% of the population. These rights are in the areas of child survival, growth and development (health and education), protection and participation. Government reports show that the country is struggling in certain areas with regard to the realization of child rights, including low participation rates in ECDE, especially in arid and semi-arid areas (ASALs), high infant and under-five mortality rates, short of MDG targets, malnutrition, low immunization coverage, poor sanitation, and vulnerability to harm and exploitation. This report seeks to establish the progress Kenya has made towards these commitments by analyzing budget from a child rights perspective, especially now that the country is in transition to a devolved system of governance. Since the budget is the most important economic and policy instrument used by government to translate their policies and commitments in service delivery, it serves as a good basis to draw policy and budget advocacy strategy in building a case for investment in children, not only from a rights angle, but also from an economic logic, as well as social and political perspective.
