The United Nations has recognized Court of Appeal judge Martha Koome with a runners-up award for the UN Kenya Person of The Year 2020.
Justice Koome's advocacy for Children's rights in conflict with the law and child victims has led to the recognition.
Koome expressed her gratitude towards the UN in her acceptance speech, emphasizing that children are the society's collective responsibility.
She said, "All of us stand in a position of local parents for a child be it a child in the streets, in a remand home, in schools and everywhere if a child is not in a good place, it is because of failure of a system in the society. This is the message I spread that our children are our collective responsibility."
The judge chaired NCAJ Special Task Force on Children matters which aimed at addressing the plight of children in the Justice system.
Apart from mobilising and coordinating other stakeholders to participate in reviewing the Children's Act to align it with the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the task force developed children-centred approaches to be applied during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The task force ensured that children in remand homes had laptops so that they could indulge in virtual hearing of cases instead of being transported physically.
The UN introduced the award in 2002 to recognize individuals or institutions for their successful work in bringing significant issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals to public notice.
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