By Urban Shihemi , November 12, 2025

Kenya is set to launch the National Framework for the Implementation of Kafaalah for Children on November 26, 2025, marking a major milestone in the country’s care reform agenda aimed at strengthening family- and community-based care for vulnerable children.

The event, which will bring together key government agencies, Muslim leaders, faith-based organizations, and development partners, represents the culmination of a seven-year transformative journey led by Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) in close collaboration with the State Department for Children Services and the Office of the Chief Kadhi.

Over the years, these partners alongside Jamia Mosque Nairobi, Jamia TV formerly Horizon TV, and other Muslim organizations have worked to promote Kafaalah, the Islamic system of alternative family care, as a culturally and religiously grounded model of child protection and welfare within Kenya’s Muslim community.

Kafaalah, derived from Islamic teachings, provides a compassionate framework for caring for orphans and vulnerable children without severing their biological ties, differing from conventional adoption systems.

Its integration into Kenya’s national child care framework signifies a key step toward inclusive, faith-sensitive approaches to child welfare.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Khadija Abdulrahim Karama, Deputy Project Director, Changing the Way We Care/CRS said the new framework will provide clear guidelines and legal structures for the implementation of Kafaalah across the country, ensuring that every child grows up in a safe, nurturing family environment.

“Care Reform is the systemic transformation of the policies, structures, services, and practices that govern the care and protection of children who are separated from their families or at risk of separation,’’said Khadija . “It is a multi-sectoral, rights-based change process aimed at ensuring that all children grow up in safe, nurturing, and permanent family environments,”she added.

The launch is expected to draw representatives from religious institutions, child protection networks, civil society organizations, and development agencies, all united in advancing Kenya’s ongoing transition from institutional care to family-based alternatives.

To operationalize care reform, the Government of Kenya enacted the Children Act, 2022, a comprehensive legal instrument that affirms the rights of all children to parental care and protection.

The Act stipulates that where parents or guardians are unable to provide adequate care, children are entitled to social security, which explicitly includes alternative care arrangements such as kinship care and foster care. 

It always recognizes adoption as a permanent family care option. This classification positions alternative care not merely as a protective intervention, but as a state-supported social protection measure.

In furtherance of this legal mandate, the Government of Kenya, in partnership with state and non-state actors, developed and launched the National Care Reform Strategy for Children in Kenya in June 2022. 

The Strategy provides a ten-year, multi-sectoral implementation framework designed to create an enabling environment for care reform at both national and county levels.