The Chairperson of the National Gender and Equality Commission, Hon. Rehema Jaldesa, has commended the County Government of Turkana for the Lodwar Children’s Rescue Centre.

 The Commission visited the centre on Monday 5 October 2026 to close the first day of its mission. The facility’s management briefed the Chairperson on the children in its care. Hon. Jaldesa noted that the centre is among very few children’s rescue facilities established by county governments in Kenya. 

PART OF A COUNTY NETWORK 

The County Government lists the development of child rescue centres among the mandates of its Department of Social Protection. In January 2023, the Lodwar centre hosted four rescued children from Uganda before they were reunited with their families.

 In December 2023, the County opened a second rescue centre in Kakuma to serve street children in Kakuma town, the refugee camp and the Kalobeyei Settlement, in response to a rising number of street children and reports of violence against children.

SINCE 2019

 During the Commission’s 2019 mission, the County Government reported that existing children’s rescue centres were not equipped to provide safe spaces for children and undertook to look into establishing a rescue centre in the county. 

Addressing the Turkana County Equality and Inclusion Technical Working Group the day after the visit, the Chairperson said it had given the Commission “a first answer” on whether coordination had changed outcomes in Turkana. 

The delegation, which included the Vice Chairperson, Commissioner Thomas Koyier, Commissioner Caroline Lentupuru, and the Commission Secretary/ CEO, Dr Purity Ngina, planted trees at the centre. The Commission also donated food and non-food items to support the children’s care.