Playing by the Numbers

(Warning: if you are looking for an upbeat report from Kenya, this isn't it.)

I really liked numbers when I was growing up. I remember on rainy days playing by the window just so that I could count the cars that went by. As I got older, math moved past the basics and got more complicated. The more advanced math I had to take, the more disenchanted I became with it.

This afternoon I had a chance to attend a program for the dissemination of the second periodic Kenya Country Report on implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Report. The information also included Unicef’s review of progress towards the World Fit for Children +5 goals in Kenya. It was a day full of reporting numbers – take your pick:

7,516,859 - the number of Children in Kenya living below the poverty line.

1.7 million children between 6-14 were not able to access education through the formal school systems. One forth of the students are actually in a grade that is suitable for their age --over half of the students are over aged for their grade by two or more years. Only 35% of girls are still in school after age 16.

926,541 – the number of children in child labor (from 1999). 10,000 – 15,000 girls between the ages of 12-18 are estimated to be involved in sex work and sex tourism. Most of these engage in sex work when they need to secure income to meet their basic needs.

14,700 - the approximate number of women of reproductive age who die each year due to complications of pregnancy (not to mention the over a quarter of a million who suffer disabilities cause by complications during pregnancy/childbirth. Almost of quarter of the young Kenyan women (15-19) are either pregnant with their first child or already a mother.

50,245 - the number of children in Chartible Children's Institutions (2003-05).

281 - the number of children who lived in prison during their mother's incarceration. (2006).

56 - the number of children adopted domestically (2006).

44 - the number of children adopted internationally (2006).

20 - the number of children who were placed in foster care (2005).

1 in 14 babies born in Kenya will die before there first birthday. About 1 in 9 before their fifth birthday -- which translates into 94 child deaths per day.

Of course, this is just a small sampling of the numbers disseminated during the four and a half hours I was there. I just don't want to go through them all again. To me, some numbers seem on target and some seemed very conservative in my opinion. But like we all know, the more you play with numbers the more you learn the various ways you can manipulate them. Needless to say I have once again become disenchanted with numbers and am looking forward to attending meetings in the future which skip the numbers to focus on solutions.