BADEF Joins National Convening on Ending Harmful Practices Affecting Children

From 2 to 4 December 2025, BADEF Development Foundation took part in the National Learning and Convening on Prevention and Response to Harmful Practices Affecting Children in Kenya. The event was held at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, under the Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children Services, State Department for Children Services, with Men End FGM.

The theme was Accelerating Action to End Harmful Practices Affecting Children in Kenya: Reflect, Learn, Connect and Act. Over three days and thirteen sessions, government, UN agencies, donors, faith leaders, survivors and young advocates came together to agree on how to end child marriage, FGM and other harmful practices faster.

Day 1: Listening first

The convening opened with children’s own voices, led by 15-year-old advocate Tschala Leneya Bilombele. CPA Carren Agengo, Principal Secretary for Children Services, officially opened the event. Hon. Millie Odhiambo, Hon. Rehema Jaldesa of the National Gender and Equality Commission, UNICEF and the Brave Movement also gave remarks. Sessions covered children’s and survivors’ testimonies, accountability, justice for child survivors, and the need for better data on what works.

Day 2: Solutions from the ground

Community organisations shared approaches that are working, including:

peer education
work with men and boys
alternative rites of passage
economic empowerment

Young people led their own roundtable, calling for real decision-making power rather than token participation. Two sessions spoke directly to BADEF’s work. The first looked at child protection in refugee, emergency and climate settings. The second looked at the role of faith and community leaders.

Day 3: From talk to commitments

The final day turned learning into action. Each stakeholder group recorded its pledges in a shared commitment register. A follow-up convening is planned in twelve months to review progress.

What stood out for BADEF

Crisis makes children more vulnerable. Displacement, drought and flooding push families toward child marriage and child labour. Child protection must be part of humanitarian and climate response from the start.
Faith and community leaders can lead change from within. Messages grounded in a community’s own values last longer.
Children, young people and survivors must hold real power. Their experience should shape how programmes are designed and judged.
We need to prove what works. Better monitoring and shared learning help the whole sector grow what succeeds.
No one ends this alone. Coordination between government, partners and communities is essential.

What we are taking forward
BADEF commits to:

involving children and survivors in how we plan and review our work
strengthening dialogue with religious and traditional leaders
building child protection into our resilience and emergency programmes
improving how we measure results
working more closely with partners in the sector

“The test of this convening will not be what we said here, but what we do when we return to our communities, organisations and institutions.” Closing plenary

We thank the State Department for Children Services, Men End FGM, and every child, survivor and advocate who shared their story.

Would you like to partner with us to keep children safe? Contact us at info@badef.org.

#KeepChildrenSafe