Kenyan Youth Position Paper on Post-2015 Agenda
BACKGROUDN INFORMATION
The Kenyan
Youth Position Paper on Post-2015 Agenda was developed during the Kenyan Youth
Post2015 Synthesis Workshop in Nairobi, between 30th and 31st May,
2013 at YMCA –Kenya, organized by Organization
of Africa Youth-Kenya. The workshop
had participants from 40 youth led and youth serving organizations. The focus of the workshop was to create more awareness and enable broader
youth participation in the Post-2015 Agenda, and release a Kenya Youth Position
Paper on Post-2015 Agenda to feed into the National Report
The documents that were synthesized during the
youth workshop included:
·
African Youth Declaration on Post-2015 Agenda
·
Recommendations from the Kenya consultation
conducted by VSO and Restless Development
·
Outcome of the Monrovia Youth Roundtable
·
Communiqué of the Youth Session in Bali Meeting
·
Kenyan report of the online Africa Youth Survey
on Post-2015- Specific Kenyan voices.
·
Millennium development goals : status
report for Kenya 2011 (by ministry of
planning and Vision 2030)
·
Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: A
Celebration and A Challenge (a report by UNFPA and HelpAge)
PREAMBLE
Youth comprise
75% of Kenya’s adult population and living in today’s complex and challenging
times. This group has diverse features
such as urban and rural youth, youth with disabilities, youth from pastoralist
communities, and youth in formal and informal employment, among others
The majority of
Kenyan youth continues to face challenges including but not limited to: exclusion in development processes at
national level; lack of skills or quality education; poverty and limited access
to economic opportunities. At the same time, the National Youth Council has
only been gazetted and not fully operationalized and branches established as
per the devolved government as stipulated in the NYC Act.
The processes
towards a post 2015 agenda presents the opportunity for young people to achieve
optimal functioning and it should be inclusive, integrating young people’s own
account of their aspirations and values.
The new goals,
targets and indicators should resonate with what is of most value to young
people and should in fact be a natural follow-up on the current Vision 2030.
The successes or failures of national
implementing the post-2015 framework will be driven by young people as the main
beneficiaries of the achievement of the goals.
This position
paper presents the outcomes of the Kenya Youth Post-2015 Agenda Synthesis
Workshop of 30th-31st May 2013 in Nairobi, bringing together young people
representing youth organizations working in different parts of the country.
These youth recommendations are to feed into the National Report by the
government through the Ministry of Planning.
The underlying recommendation is that the outcomes of the
framework be domesticated and made part of the national policy. The MDGs were
taken as ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the enforceability based on political
will.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS
Governance and Participation
Empower the young people through training and capacity building
to use social audits & community score cards for social accountability at
the national and county level.
Create mentorship
programmes for Youth Leaders in governance to promote integrity and ethical values.
Promote intergeneration dialogue for the young to gain experiences and learn
from the old people.
Support youth
participation and representation in decision making processes including
government structure, meetings, and in developing and implementing policies and
programs and endeavor to partner with the youth as a prerequisite for
sustainable development. The government
and citizens must put fight against corruption as a matter of priority and
promote transparency, accountability and integrity
Strengthen the
youth organizations and leadership to lobby and advocate for good leadership
and governance. Further strengthen the Kenya National Youth Council as a
vehicle for youth empowerment with a clear strategic plan and adequate resources
for implementation.
Information
sharing with young people at the national and local level through ICT and
meaningful civic education to promote meaningful participation in development
processes.
Youth Employment
and Entrepreneurship
Tap and harness young talents and innovations through organized
and facilitated trainings, fairs and festivals. Encourage the youth through
sharing of best practices and success stories.
Review the
education system to make a shift from theory to practice by empowering the youth
with technical skills and make it accessible and affordable to the poor.
Education and policy awareness be made a point of focus.
Encourage the
youth to shift from normal (formal) employment to green businesses and
agricultural ventures. Civic education and incentives that make agriculture
more attractive to youths should be adopted and promoted in rural areas and
institutions of learning and research by the government. The government should
also restructure cooperatives to make them more value oriented and enhance
their ability to support youth agriculture through providing mentorship and
resource based support to the youth.
Revitalization
and upgrading of the Youth Empowerment Centers to act as venues for youth
socio-economic empowerment and marketing of government services to the
youth. The centers should offer a one stop shop for youth activities
and be managed in a seamless manner by the governments in collaboration with
the Kenya National Youth Council officials and youth organizations.
Governments
should provide transparent financial support to young people by enacting youth
friendly policies that allow them to easily access credit and grants to
establish businesses and self-employment initiatives.
Population Dynamics,
Water and Health
Harness the opportunity of the Youth bulge for rapid economic
growth and poverty reduction by implementing sound policies at each stage of
the demographic transition. Promote development and investment at the county
level to reduce rural-urban youth migration.
To promote
specific policy floors for youth with disability, protect youth from
vulnerabilities especially after disasters and establish health systems that
are friendly to youth with special health needs
Design and implement policies that target
STIs, HIV and AIDs related issues among the youth
Ensure universal
access to clean safe water for all people in rural and urban areas, and promote
the sanitation of every household in the urban areas, especially slum dwellers,
by ensuring that more piped and clean water is reaching all people, and
creating an efficient drainage system, garbage collection and waste management
in cities.
Enhance water
harvesting and storage techniques in areas where rainfall takes place in
various periods over the years.
Increase access
to information and education on health issues for young people especially
reproductive health care and reproductive health services for young women in
both urban and rural. Medical insurance fund should be extended and affordable
to young people for easier access to quality health delivery.
Climate Change
and Environment
Develop a clear action plan on youth engagement in adaptation to
climate change and environmental conservation. The youth to work hand in hand
with the relevant government authorities to adopt and conserve specific local
environmental resources including wildlife.
Diversification
of leadership and execution of implementable policies regarding climate change
and environment
Coordinate
research on climate change, translation of research information into languages
that youth can understand and dissemination of the same to youth led
organizations.
Government should
avail drought resistant seeds to young farmers, issue fertilizers at subsidized
costs, and encourage climate smart agriculture to ensure sustainable food
production in Kenya.
Mainstream
climate change and environmental issues in different ministries and
establishing and facilitate climate justice systems within the courts.
