† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO Convention (C.). 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Reports indicate that local elements of the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) have provided support to the Jubaland Security Forces (JSF), a federal member state group in Somalia, which the UN and other organizations report as recruiting and using children in armed conflict. Such support has included training, provision of transportation (including armed vehicles), intelligence sharing, payment of salaries of JSF combatants, and allowing JSF regiments to garrison in northern Kenya, near the border of Somalia. Local organizations and community leaders in both northern Kenya and Jubaland have observed recruitment by the JSF, sometimes occurring on the Kenyan side of the border, with some KDF elements providing direct training to child recruits. In July 2024, KDF personnel serving with the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) completed a 5-day training program on civilian protection and human rights including child soldier recruitment, but research cannot confirm any further efforts to screen, mitigate, or remediate within the KDF to ensure that children recruited by the JSF and their respective units are not benefiting from Kenyan training, tactical support, or other forms of in-kind assistance.

Children at Higher Risk

Severe drought, flooding, and food shortages have increased school absenteeism and child labor vulnerabilities, particularly in Kenya’s northern and western counties. In addition, unaccompanied refugee children in Nairobi and children living in refugee camps are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation. Children from rural areas and nearby countries are vulnerable to various forms of exploitation. In particular, children from Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda, and other countries in the region, as well as children from other rural areas of Kenya, widely become domestic workers and are sometimes subjected to exploitative conditions and physical or sexual abuse. Moreover, traffickers increasingly exploit displaced children and children with disabilities in forced begging, as well as girls from Uganda’s Karamoja region in domestic work, commercial sex work (some of which is coerced through threats of arrest for lack of documentation), and street vending. Finally, criminals connected to terrorist networks recruit Kenyan children to join non-state armed groups, primarily Al Shabaab in Somalia, sometimes by falsely promising lucrative employment.

Barriers to Education Access

Many children, often including the stateless, asylum-seekers, registered refugees, ethnic minorities, and orphans, lack birth registration and national identification documents, making it difficult to access education and related services. Reports indicate that some children and their families have been displaced from their homes in areas subject to banditry, causing them to miss school for long periods. Although Kenyan law mandates free basic education and prohibits schools from charging tuition fees, the cost of unofficial fees levied by local schools, as well as the cost of books and uniforms, prevent some children from attending school, particularly at the secondary level. Long travel distances and inadequate infrastructure (especially in rural areas) coupled with teacher and staff shortages further contribute to children in Kenya dropping out of school and becoming vulnerable to child labor, including its worst forms. Girls in particular are at greater risk of dropping out of school due to several factors including lack of access to sanitary pads during menstruation, pregnancy, and sexual violence. Children seeking asylum or refugee status are often restricted to living in designated areas, such as the Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, where there are limited schools and existing facilities lack sufficient teachers, textbooks, electricity, latrines, and sanitary or hygiene facilities and resources (particularly for girls), and where girls struggle to stay enrolled due to sexual violence from teachers and pregnancy. Flooding across western Kenya in the spring and summer of 2024 displaced primary and secondary school students; disrupted and delayed school calendars and caused prolonged periods out of school for many children; damaged school facilities and learning materials such as textbooks and desks; and led to insufficient water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.

Children aged 13 to 16 are only permitted to perform light work. However, Kenya’s laws do not meet international standards because they do not limit the hours for light work, except for agricultural and horticultural work. In addition, as the minimum age for work is lower than the compulsory education age, children may be encouraged to leave school before the completion of compulsory education. Moreover, although the Basic Education Act establishes free basic education and stipulates that children should not be denied admission to school on account of not paying fees, the law does not meet international standards because it permits schools to levy tuition for children who reside in Kenya but do not have Kenyan citizenship. Kenya’s legal framework also does not fully meet international standards for the protection of children from armed conflict, because the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act does not criminalize the recruitment of children in the absence of force or fraud. Although the Children Act of 2022 addresses this gap by prohibiting the use of children by armed groups both within Kenya and across the border, the penalty of imprisonment not to exceed 12 months is not commensurate with crimes of similar gravity.

In 2024, 152 labor inspectors conducted 14,632 worksite inspections, finding an unknown number of child labor violations. It is unknown how many investigations into the worst forms of child labor were conducted, although 10 prosecutions were initiated, and 2 perpetrators were convicted and sentenced.

* Policy was approved during the reporting period.
† The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor.

* Program was launched during the reporting period.
‡ Program is funded by the Government of Kenya.
† The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor.

Download the 2024 Bibliography