President William Ruto has called for greater protection of spending on children as rising debt costs put pressure on governments to meet their financial obligations while maintaining essential public services.
Ruto said debt decisions have consequences far beyond government accounts, with children bearing the effects when limited public funds are shifted away from education, healthcare, nutrition and social protection.
The President spoke on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, during the High-Level Dialogue on Debt, Development and the Next Generation in New York, where he warned that the growing debt crisis should also be viewed through its impact on children.
“Debt is not only an economic issue; it is a children’s rights issue. A debt crisis becomes a children’s crisis when interest payments crowd out hospitals, health, nutrition, and social protection,” Ruto said.
His remarks came against a backdrop of growing concern over the amount developing countries are spending to service debt. UNICEF, in its State of the World’s Children 2025 report, said 45 developing countries were spending more on debt interest than on health, while 22 were spending more on interest than education.
The agency warned that continued debt pressure could create an “indebted generation”, with children and young people facing the consequences of borrowing undertaken before they were born.
Ruto said the impact of government debt cannot be fully understood by looking at figures showing how much a country owes.
“Debt is not experienced in trillions or billions,” he said, noting that its effects are seen in the condition of classrooms, clinics, school meals and social protection.
He used Kenya’s education sector as an example of the choices governments face when public finances are under strain.
According to Ruto, Kenya was dealing with four major education challenges when he assumed office. These included a shortage of teachers, inadequate classrooms, weaknesses in the education model and financial difficulties affecting universities and other tertiary institutions.
He said the government opted to put more money into education despite the fiscal difficulties that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We hired an extra 100,000 teachers. We built an extra 23,000 classrooms,” Ruto said, adding that the government had increased the education budget by $2.2 billion.
Ruto’s figures represent his administration’s account of its record in the education sector as the government continues to operate under pressure from the country’s debt obligations and wider fiscal constraints.
National Treasury data shows Kenya’s total nominal public and publicly guaranteed debt reached Sh11.81 trillion, equivalent to 67.8 per cent of GDP, by the end of June 2025. Of this amount, domestic debt stood at Sh6.33 trillion, while external debt was Sh5.49 trillion.
UNICEF has warned that mounting debt can reduce the money available for programmes that support children. Its research indicates that increasing debt costs are already putting pressure on government spending on education, health and social protection in developing economies.
Kenya is facing the same challenge as debt servicing competes with the need to fund public investment while the government pursues fiscal consolidation.
Ruto said governments should not treat programmes benefiting children as expenses that can easily be pushed into the future whenever financial difficulties arise.
“You can’t postpone matters that involve children. There are many other things you can postpone,” he said.
The President's remarks put child-focused spending at the heart of the international debate over how developing countries can manage debt without weakening basic public services.
UNICEF has urged governments to take children’s needs into account when making economic and fiscal decisions. The agency has also pointed to debt restructuring as a possible way of creating more fiscal space for spending on health, education and social protection.
Ruto's intervention connected Kenya’s domestic education challenges with the broader global debate on debt, development and the next generation, arguing that governments must find ways to honour debt obligations while continuing to invest in the children who will form the future workforce and drive economic growth.