“The Youth Cafe seeks to provide an opportunity for improving the quality of life for African youth through their participation in economic and democratic processes as well as in community and civic affairs. It also advocates creation of a supportive social, cultural, economic and political environment that will empower the youth to be partners in county development. ”
Target Beneficiaries
Our expected beneficiaries are youths between the age of 18 and 35 from across Sub Saharan Africa, including;- Youths living with disabilities, for example, albinism, Refugees, youth from rural communities, youth from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, social minorities – religious, ethnic, people living with HIV, youths from marginalized communities, for increased impact and expanded global, regional and country-level action to address the needs of youth, build the agency and advance the rights of young people in all their diversity around the world including young women and girls, the orphaned, youths living in informal settlements, youths living in drought and hunger-stricken areas, young aspiring leaders and to ensure their engagement and participation in the implementation, review, and follow-up of the program activities.
Furthemore, The Youth Cafe pays special attention to Youth Living in Streets and Vagrant Youth, Youth with health concerns, Female Youth and the Boy Child, Unemployed and Underemployed Youth, Youth not in education, employment and training, Youth in emergency situations, Youth in learning institutions, Incarcerated Youth, Youth in conflict situations, and Youth in emergency situations. In summary The Youth Cafe works with these segmented of youth various aspects of engagement, empowerment and, active participants of development in Africa.
Definition of a youth
To clarity and avoid confusion around who a real youth is, The Youth Cafe has borrowed the definition of a youth of the Kenya Constitution 2010 and the UN as stated as follows: as one of ages 15 years to 35 years but with regards to the Kenyan constitution and the UN definition of the term youth. Further, The Youth Cafe directs that the term “youth” will not be used interchangeably with other terms such as “young people”, “young persons”, “young women”, or “young men”.
The Youth Cafe has disallowed use of the stated other terms as substitutes of ‘youth’ because they are relative, ambiguous and normally misdirect focus from the real youth.
Variance In Definition of Youth
The definition of the term youth varies with the context in which it is being used. The youth are categorized based on their age by different organization. The World Health Organization (WHO) categorizes the youth into three categories: adolescents (those between the ages of 10 and 19 years), youth (from ages 15 to 24 years) and young people (from ages 10 to 24 years) (WHO, 2011). The United Nations defines youth as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. Under the African Youth Charter, a Youth is a person between 15 and 35 years. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 under article 260 defines a Youth as a person aged between eighteen (18) years and thirty four (34) years (Republic of Kenya, 2010).
The Youth Cafe adopts the definition of Youth in the Constitution of Kenya, but also gives consideration to young people between the ages of 15-17 years.