The Child Welfare Society of Kenya (CWSK) is a charitable organization established in 1950 and registered in 1955. It is professionally run by social workers with the goal of promoting and protecting the rights of the child in Kenya. CWSK is the oldest children services organization that has been active in the fight for children rights and played a key role in the establishment of the Children Department, the Children and Young Persons Act 1963, the current Children Act 2001 and the signing of the various conventions on the rights and protection of children including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The organization works with various stakeholders in the children sector including the Government of Kenya through the Department of Children Services in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social development. CWSK has been and continues to be a government approved adoption society since 1969 and the registration is regularly reviewed, the latest review being in 2009.

CWSK is involved in professional home study and case study preparation as may be required by the High Court or the lower courts of Kenya and has been involved in international tracing and reintegration of children with their families. Child Welfare Society of Kenya carries out social inquiry reports for countries which we are members of International Social Services.

The organization engages in a range of programmes designed to achieve its vision for the welfare of children and through these programmes CWSK serves up to 40,000 children annually.

The core programmes undertaken by the organization include alternative family care for orphans and other vulnerable children (through adoption, foster care and guardianship), elimination of child labour, street children programmes, vocational training, community empowerment, family support, HIV/AIDS and OVC programmes, youth health centres and community dispensaries

Through its national network of branches and temporary places of safety, the organization also runs programmes on early childhood education, primary, secondary and university sponsorship, and other education opportunities. Child Welfare Society of Kenya is a member and official representative in Kenya of the International Social Services, the global professional body of social workers, which has a membership of 150 countries.

Through its national network of branches and temporary places of safety, the organization also runs programmes on early childhood education, primary, secondary and university sponsorship, and other education opportunities. Child Welfare Society of Kenya is a member and official representative in Kenya of the International Social Services, the global professional body of social workers, which has a membership of 150 countries.

Our objectives

• To protect and promote the interest of all children in the Republic of Kenya
• To advocate for child welfare and children’s rights in line with the UN convention on the Rights of the Child and African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
• To find and provide alternative homes for children in need of care and special protection.
• To increase the level of literacy among Kenyan children with the aim of expanding their opportunities for self-reliance.
• To improve income levels of very needy families to overcome acute problems of poverty and create access to basic needs for children.
• To combat child labour, children working on the streets, and HIV/AIDS with a view to reducing them and eventually eliminating them from all spheres.
• To co-operate with other organizations or persons whose aims are similar to the society’s.

Core Values

• Children as the centre of all CWSK's activities
• The family environment as the unit in which children can greow up and develop with love and care
• Equity and justice for all children irrespective of their status
• Full intergration of children into the mainstream national activities

LEGAL STATUS

CWSK is a charitable children’s organization, which was established in 1955 as a Society and implements programmes aimed at protection and promotion of children's rights in Kenya. It was gazetted as an Approved Adoption Society in 1969 and years later after the gazzettement of New Adoption regulations renewed in 2006. CWSK was registered as an NGO in 1993.

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