The purpose of this research was to learn about community-based child protection processes and mechanisms in two mostly rural sites in the Kisii/Nyamira area of Kenya. The research is intended to complement and extend the learning from previous research by the Inter-Agency Learning Initiative in two urban slums of Mombasa, Kenya and in two rural areas of Kilifi. To learn about existing community-based child protection processes and mechanisms, the research used an ethnographic approach in which national researchers who spoke Ekegusii lived and worked in the villages, making participant observations, conducting interviews and group discussions with diverse people, and engaging in activities with children. In particular, the research sought to identify how local people (who were positioned differently according to age, gender, and socio-economic status) understand children and childhood, what they saw as the main harms or risks to children, what CBCPMs existed and how they were used, what protective factors enabled children’s positive coping and resilience, and whether and how the CBCPMs linked with elements of the formal, government led aspects of the child protection system. This research hopes to contribute to strengthening the national child protection system in Kenya.

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