About Cralaf
The Children Rights Advocacy and Legal Aid Foundation (CRALAF) is a non-profit organization registered under Kenya’s Public Benefit Organizations Regulatory Authority (PBORA), formerly the NGO Coordination Board. Established in 2013, CRALAF champions child protection through family strengthening mechanisms and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), prioritizing the best interests of children to avoid adversarial litigation unless as last resort.
This was necessitated by the growing number of Child Offenders, Children in need of Care and Protection, Separated / broken families and the overwhelming desire to fast track and resolve child issues in a manner that focused on the family and the preservation of the on-going relations of mother, father and child.
The founder noted with deep concern the devastating effect of the court process war tag and the added strain between parents whose relationship was already severed; this in return complicated co-parenting and yielded children with mental torture and trauma due to the strain between the parents that is often projected on them. This was particularly concerning as by that time the Judiciary had not started with the Judiciary Led Family Centered interventions and rehabilitation programs.
Though Kenya had promulgated The New Constitution 2010, which in Article 159 encouraged promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms in exercise of judicial authority, its implementation was slow however it gave a new lease of life to Traditional Dispute Resolutions which were previously commonly used by the communities to solve issues particularly family related; these more often than not were seen to be harsh, biased and sometimes in contradiction with the law as they were guided and limited by entrenched social norms which often made the outcomes discriminatory, biased and unjust, hence unenforceable.
CRALAF inter alia provides free legal aid and assistance to children who are abused, in conflict with the law and those in need of care and protection through Judiciary led family centered interventions and rehabilitation programs and further extends legal assistance to the mothers and the primary caregivers/breadwinners and pursues an Alternative Justice Solutions to incarceration of these mothers in the effort to prevent child-family separation and preserve families, guided by the principles of best interest of the child and Do no harm.
The Organization’s main aim is to reduce social injustices by giving children a chance to have access to legal assistance both from within and without the court system. It seeks to promote awareness and respect for children rights and participation with an emphasis to eradicate harmful cultural practices e.g Child marriage and FGM. Our approach is blending the legal system, Alternative Justice System, Policy formulation and multi faceted strategies and opportunities. We network with like-minded stakeholders including the civil society organizations, the community and the government in responding to the emerging trends on child protection and upholding their rights and most importantly shifting to a comprehensive system approach that strengthens the entire framework of child welfare.