Islamic Kafalah is a guardianship system that enables a child to be brought up within a family environment without inheritance rights and ‘assimilation’ as the legal child of the new parents. This study analyses Kafalah within the context of alternative care for children deprived of their environment. Compares Kafalah to other forms of alternative case and examines the extent to which Kafalah is recognized and practiced internationally. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Prof Julia Sloth-Nielsen, University of the Wstern Cape, South Africa. / Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The social phenomenon of children without parental care and those at risk of separation from their parents has gained considerable global attention in recent years. A key concern is the over-reliance on institutional care mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America as the default form of alternative care for such children. Extensive research points to mostly negative impact of separation of children from families and institutionalization of children which affects their health outcomes and development. In response to this global crisis, the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children were developed in 2010. Kenya domesticated the guidelines in 2014 and is in the process of implementation. The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development and more specifically the Social Sustainability Principles are used in this study to assess the extent to which the UN Guidelines, Kenya Guidelines and implementation of alternative care of children in Kenya align to Social Sustainability. This research finds that the guidelines are highly aligned to social sustainability although their implementation points to major structural obstacles that if minimized will promote social sustainability of alternative care in Kenya. A coherent well-coordinated approach that takes a systems perspective and links to the mainstream social development agenda is recommended.