UNICEF+(NOVICE)+-+KENYA

Name: Madeline Beaudry Country: Kenya Committee: UNICEF High School: Arundel High Date: January 23, 2014

Fighting Child Malnutrition As a semi-developed country in East Africa, Kenya has faced childhood malnutrition issues in the past and continues to do so in the present. Developing and even developed countries have also faced this crisis and continue to do so as we draw near to the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals. Child malnutrition is not only inhumane and harmful to those it affects directly, but it has a negative impact on the entire community and country and often keeps its victims locked in a cycle of poverty and disease. It is a problem that requires an immediate solution.

Malnutrition is the lack of decent food, either from a low caloric intake or a diet lacking vital nutrients. It causes debilitating health defects such as stunting, starvation, brain damage, weak immune systems, and higher likelihood of mothers passing HIV to unborn children in the womb. Child malnutrition can be caused by many factors: living in poverty, lack of access to food because of war and devastation, lack of skill needed to prepare food, alcohol or drug dependency, long-term illnesses that make it difficult to extract needed nutrients from food (in developing countries, parasites like tapeworms), and, especially in developed countries, poor body image leading to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Ending child malnutrition is an important goal because its causes and effects keep those affected by it in a vicious cycle, preventing them from being productive and living happy, fulfilling lives. Those affected by child nutrition are highly likely to suffer from poor quality of life and be dependent from outside help from their government or non-governmental organizations. Child malnutrition must be ended to improve their quality of life and the strength of their communities. In order to improve this situation, UNICEF and the United Nations need to take action to end child malnutrition.

Child malnutrition is a striking problem in the world and Kenya in particular. 54 percent of deaths in children five years old or younger are attributed to malnutrition. Furthermore, girls born with a low birth weight (LBW) and that suffer from malnutrition during their childhoods are likely to give birth to LBW children themselves, continuing the cycle. Throughout the 1990s, the global rate of child malnutrition in children under five fell from 27 percent to 22 percent. However, in Africa the number of malnourished children increased from 26 million to 32 million, and 25 percent of all children under five years old are underweight1. Stunting, reduced growth from lack of nutrients and calories, is also a problem in Africa: 90 percent of childhood stunting occurs in Africa and Asia2. In Kenya specifically, 37 percent of children suffer from stunting, 6 percent of children suffer from wasting syndrome (a lack of appetite caused by an existing disease, such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and many other diseases that leads to starvation), and 27 percent of children are underweight according to a 1999 study of Kenyan children from all 14 Kenyan districts3. This was a raise from levels recorded in 1977, showing a worsening situation. The situation is dire, and programs to improve the state of child nutrition are desperately needed.

In order to complete the Millennium Development Goals and end child malnutrition, Kenya has adopted the Strategy of Revitalizing Agriculture, developed by the Ministry of Agriculture. These strategies are aimed at increasing productivity at the household level and granting the poor food security4. Economic stimulus packages have been distributed among households to ensure higher levels of food production. These packages are expected to help the agricultural growth rate peak at about 10 percent and bring about the anticipated MDG goals. Though national poverty levels are still higher than we would like, food poverty has declined 3.1 percent from 1997 to 2005, along with a reduction in the stunting and underweight rates of children. Emphasis is also put on the production of nutritious foods so families farming the foods can benefit from them as well as those who buy the surplus of their food in markets. Currently, food insecurity has been reduced from 56 percent to less than 35 percent regardless of recent droughts. President Kenyatta recently spoke in a July 2013 Agricultural event of the programs to end malnutrition through improved agriculture: “Government will focus on addressing these challenges in order to promote agriculture not only as a means of economic development but also as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty among the rural people who depend on the sector. In this regard, the Government will focus on key interventions that will improve production and value addition.” Another way Kenya plans to improve agriculture is by expanding irrigation systems so agriculture is not dependent on rain. As we have seen, rain is not reliable and droughts have devastating effects on the productivity of farms and the health of the population. The government will also continue to subsidize fertilizers for farmers so the cost of running an effective farm does not hinder their success.

Though Kenya has seen improvement in the situation of child malnutrition, many other countries have not. In order to improve the global state of nutrition, the basic causes of malnutrition must be stopped. The largest of these problems is the lack of access to nutritious food, due to poverty or other reasons. The best way to do this, as Kenya’s experiences have shown, is to make food more available to the public. This can be done through expansion of agricultural programs to increase farm output. UNICEF can help combat child malnutrition by instituting these programs because many countries do not have the necessary infrastructure to form them themselves. This is a costly endeavor; obviously, UNICEF does not have the capability to fix this problem on its own. With the help of NGOs, however, there may be enough power to set up a strong agricultural system in more countries. A well-aware public is vital to achieving these goals. Publicity campaigns from NGOs and UNICEF will be vital to gaining public donations and interest. The public also needs to be aware of the impacts of malnutrition on a child’s life, especially medical impacts. Children need access to medical care in order to live healthy lives and heal from the impacts malnutrition has had on their bodies. Without care, they will still live with the health complications of malnutrition even if they start to receive necessary caloric and nutrition requirements. Nations with poor farming land or faulty governments may have a difficult time implementing these plans, but with the help of outside organizations they will be capable of setting an effective program in place.

Child malnutrition is one of the most pressing issues in today’s world. It is the leading cause of death and disease in children and kills millions each year. Kenya looks forward to finding a lasting cure to this epidemic and restoring health and happiness to children around the world.
 * 1) Malnutrition: Quantifying the health impact at national and local levels. //Monika Blössner and Mercedes de Onis.// []
 * 2) JHUMUNC Background Guide: UNICEF
 * 3) Prevalence of malnutrition in Kenya. //Department of Behavioural Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya//. []
 * 4) UNDP in Kenya: Millennium Development Goals (Eradicate Extreme Hunger and Poverty). []

The Issue of Child Soldiers

During the last decade preceding national elections, Kenya has witnessed violence at the hands of gangs made up of both adults and children due to political conflicts. The issue of children involved in violence and warfare is very important to us; no youth under 18 are accepted into the armed services whether for conscription or voluntary recruitment. Kenya has also ratified the treaties of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, (along with the Optional Protocol), Geneva Convention additional protocols I and II, International Labor Organization C138 (setting 18 years as the limit of a job that jeopardizes the “health, safety, or morals of young persons”), ILO C182 (which defines the worst forms of child labor, including warfare, and bans them), and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child charter. It is Kenya’s belief that anyone under 18 is a child, and it is of utmost importance to us that all forms of child soldiers be banned for the safety and success of the children as well as that of their communities.

 Children are being used in African conflicts with increasing frequency; over half of the world’s child soldiers reside in our continent. In all, the UN estimates that there are 300,000 child soldiers today. This unacceptable and frightening trend not only harms the children involved, physically and mentally, but also their communities. Warlords and rebel groups often use children to terrorize their victims because they are easily “brainwashed” into their leader’s beliefs and it is difficult for their opponents to attack children because of moral reasons. This also harms the community in a wider sense by robbing them of a generation of youth that would have grown up to be productive citizens. Instead, they are scarred by war and usually end up illiterate, substance abusers, or marred from their experiences with PTSD or other illnesses. Kenya believes, therefore, that the Optional Protocol is still relevant in today’s world. Though the provision for allowing the voluntary recruitment of soldiers under the age of 18 is less than desirable, it is necessary to secure the cultural rights of nations for which the use of underage soldiers is an important part of culture or religion.

 As a nation that has experienced children in warfare, we realize that it is important to not only protect children from being used as soldiers, but also those who perform auxiliary roles such as lookouts, servants or slaves, spies, and child wives. These children also experience the horrors of war and must be protected. All countries, especially those which have signed treaties or resolutions in the past of the same type, should be held responsible for any child soldiers within their borders. It is the job of the country’s military to intervene if a rebel faction is using soldiers directly or indirectly to wage war. The UN can encourage these actions in countries by upholding trade embargoes against states that do nothing to remove the children from their situations. These factions could also be held accountable to the International Criminal Court if they use children under 15 years old. Another way the UN can help countries combat the use of child soldiers is by offering training to the militaries of countries faced with rebel groups of child soldiers. Many methods of warfare have been used to effectively combat child soldiers while being as humane as possible, including firing for shock instead of damage, using non-lethal weapons, removing the adult leaders in charge, using psychological operations against the rebel forces, and showing kindness to child soldiers taken prisoner to encourage others to defect.

 Other important considerations are how to protect children from being conscripted and how to reintegrate them into society. Child abduction often stems from basic causes: poverty, unstable government, totalitarian regimes, a large youth population, and a flourishing arms trade. Many of these causes are too broad to address at this conference, but putting restrictions on arms trading to countries where there are known child soldiers would limit their ability to arm the children and reduce their appeal. Another way we should protect children is by securing schools and neighborhoods where children are often abducted. Countries should station troops as guards to protect against abductions at school and while children are out in public. The extra protection may also encourage children to attend school instead of other activities that may not be as safe, especially if they are orphans. If a nation cannot afford to supply this type of protection, the UN should consider supplying peacekeepers to particularly hard-hit areas. After children have escaped or been rescued from their situations, they need to be integrated back into society. These children often face long-lasting physical and psychological injuries from their experiences in battle and lack important skills because fighting is all they know. Kenya believes it is the job of the government to offer programs to these children such as counseling, medical care, and training so they can support themselves. Many such programs have been set up and shown to be effective in rehabilitating ex-child soldiers. Career training is especially important because these children usually lack the support of their communities after what they were forced to do in war. Girls that were used as sex slaves are often deemed impure and not fit for marriage. If these children are trained in a skill, they can support themselves. If countries cannot afford to implement these programs themselves, NGOs or UNICEF could contribute resources and personnel. It is also important to educate the public on the truth behind the children and how they have been brainwashed and forced to kill under the threat of death so they realize what the children have gone through and are more accepting of them.

 Kenya is looking forward to a solution to all these issues. The use of child soldiers has gone on too long and it is time to stop this heinous crime against humanity.