County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Education, Sports, and Social Protection, Elizabeth Loote, today led top officials of the department on an evaluation of the Lodwar Children’s Rescue Centre.
The assessment focussed on the effectiveness of the centres’ programs, projects, and infrastructure.
Coming at a time when Lodwar is facing unprecedented rise in the number of street children, the assessment also looked at capacity for admission of more children for processing through reunion with families or re-intergration into the society through schooling.
Loote emphasized the urgency of expediting all pending works at the centre, specifically the store that was still under construction.
Additionally, the team established that play supplies earlier donated by UNICEF to the centre were in usable condition to benefit the children admitted to the centre.
The team also examined reports of the centre for conformity with what had been submitted to their offices for filing and learnt that a section of the supplies had been re-distributed to Kakuma child rescue center and schools in which children housed at the centre had been enrolled for studies.
Chief Officer for Education, Administration, and Social Protection Etelej Korea Moses, accompanying CECM Loote, highlighted the centre’s mission to provide neglected children with opportunities and explore new strategies to address child neglect.
Chief Korea noted that through partnerships between the Turkana County Government and strategic collaborators, the county aims to enhance foster care services, and provide psychological and vocational support to the children.
The assessment team included Mark Amiyo (Director), Hebrew Idoka (Deputy Director), Joshua Ekeno (Assistant Director in charge of PWDs), Dorcas Lopation (Assistant Director for Children Services), along with several social protection welfare officers.
Directors and deputy directors from the departments of ECDE, Sports, Vocational Training Centre, and Administration also participated in the assessment, reflecting a comprehensive approach to improving the children’s rescue services in Turkana County.
