| dc.description.abstract | The problem of orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya has been on the increase.
Estimated 6million children require special care and protection with approximately
2.4million of these being orphans. Social structures are changing as parents die at younger
ages and in greater numbers leaving children vulnerable. Orphans are generally cared for
through traditional mechanisms such as being absorbed in the existing family structures.
However, this safety net has been heavily stressed as extended families and communities face
more difficulties in their effort to care for the growing number of orphans. Little external
support has been provided to these families to enable them to provide this essential social
function. The study sought to investigate the factors influencing the implementation of the
Orphans and Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer Programme in Nginda location of Embu
West District which has 252 beneficiaries in the programme. The study examined how
community identification of beneficiaries (targeting) influenced implementation of the
Orphan and Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer in Nginda location of Embu West District,
Examined whether the mode of payment influenced implementation of the Orphan and
Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer in Nginda location of Embu West District , Sought to
establish whether demographic characteristics of the beneficiaries influenced the
implementation of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer in Nginda location of
Embu West District, and examined how resource allocation by the Government influenced
the implementation of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Cash Transfer in Nginda
location of Embu West District. Descriptive research design was used to collect data from a
sample of 75 households benefiting from the programme and 1 officer from the implementing
agency. Cluster sampling was used since there was a complete list of beneficiaries. The
sample was obtained from systematic cluster sampling by putting the population into clusters
of three household heads using mobilization lists from the District Children’s Office.
Systematically the first house hold head in each cluster was selected to take part in the study.
Primary data was collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher while
secondary data was got from both published and unpublished literature. The study found out
that caregivers took part in community targeting and there was a high significance of 0.000
and a coefficient correlation of .440 between targeting and the number of children accessing
school. A large number of caregivers were female, aged grandparents while payment were
unpredictable and there was low correlation 0.11 between mode of payment and children
access to education, however, payments were made through the bank and which as mode of
payment was convenient. However, it was found out that resource allocation posed a major
challenge to the implementing agency as resources allocated did not match the size and
growth of the programme. The researcher recommends that there should be an elaborate
system of enrolling into the programme children who become orphaned and are from poor
background. The amount of money transferred to caregivers should be reviewed regularly
depending on market prices of goods and services and that transfer benefit should not be
standard for all household but should be pegged on individual household needs and the
number of children a caregiver is taking care of. A well-established system of linkages needs
to be put in place to link the Orphans and Vulnerable children to other service providers for
support | en_US |
