Issue 12 2022 15 strength to strength. Yet, its core mission and ethos remain steadfast and strong – unwavering, despite the colossal challenges it has faced and overcome. There can be no better choice for Best Child Protection & Development Organisation of 2022. Action for Children in Conflict Website: https://actionchildren.or.ke/ Telephone: +254 722 753 137 Location: Section 9, Thika, Kiambu, Kenya Oct22377 Best Child Protection & Development Organisation 2022 – Kenya Established in 2004, Action for Children in Conflict (AfCiC) is a non-governmental organisation based out of Thika to aid those across the Kiambu and other neighbouring counties. Following its recognition in the GHP Global Excellence Awards programme for 2022, we took a closer look at the important work AfCiC does every day. Action for Children in Conflict was created with one core mission: to help improve the livelihood of children, vulnerable families and marginalised communities. It may be best to contextualise the importance of AfCiC’s work in the region by first explaining the cause of the poverty levels Thika now endures but is slowly recovering from. An economic decline followed the collapse of the Kenyan coffee market in the 1990s, strongly impacting Thika and its surrounding counties. As many relied on the export of coffee (and pineapples) from the region, employment rose sharply, which in turn led to the growth of slums such as Kiandatu, the largest, as well as Gacagi and Madharau, among others. From there you can see how things may have moved forwards, with impoverished conditions severely impacting children, leading to poor access to healthcare and formal education. Poor prospects led to a cycle of crime, abuse and violence. It is in this environment and history that AfCiC was established. It’s difficult to describe the importance of AfCiC’s work through words alone. Nonetheless, its work has changed the lives of Thika’s residents for the last two decades, and its work will continue to do so for many years to come. In just the last decade, AfCiC has provided comprehensive legal support, treatment and awareness projects for HIV and AIDs, good aid, creating an adoption network, and – in an ongoing basis – driving for further growth and economic development in impoverished communities. Perhaps most impressive is the sheer scope of AfCiC’s work. By endeavouring to tackle the foundational causes of impoverished communities and offering solutions to the varying ways that poverty impacts those communities, the organisation must be comprised of many moving parts. It is not one thing, but many, with a team that specialises in education, law, healthcare, social work, and climate change – among other areas of importance. As Director from 2011, John Muiruri has striven to expand AfCiC across these areas, and worked hard to utilise technology to further develop the organisation’s services. By all regards, AfCiC is growing from “Our programs focus on the following outcomes: rehabilitation and reintegration, economic empowerment, access to justice, education empowerment and climate change and safe environment. The programs are all connected and essential to ending the cycle of poverty.” - Action for Children in Conflict
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQxNTg3MQ==