The Youth Café launched the Kenya Youth Manifesto 2022, which aims at addressing youth matters, especially in the next government. The youth manifesto is a declaration of the shared vision that the youth in Kenya have for their future.  It is the tool that the youth collectively is using to engage political leadership ahead of the upcoming elections, and after the elections, it will become the critical tool that also guides and checks if commitments are being honored. More than 70% of Kenya’s population is aged 35 years and below.  The voice of the youth is often lost in the bigger scheme of things, and their opinions are not given the priority that is necessary.

The Youth Manifesto is shaped around three key pillars: social transformation, economic transformation, and political transformation. Some of the specific demands contained in the manifesto relate to the creation of employment opportunities for the youth annually,  involvement of youth in agro-produce, livestock market exploitation and value addition, Increasing access to finance, capital and grants, and Strengthening health systems to enable youth access quality affordable medical intervention, Investment in sports and the creative economy, Integration of youth in the fight against malaria, which remains public health crisis in Kenya among other. The Youth Cafe’s executive Director, Willice Onyango, took part in a breakfast ratio interview hosted by Tina Kaggia. Below are the excerpts of the show;

Tina Kaggia: Why is the Youth Manifesto Important to the people?

Willice Onyango: As the election period is approaching, The Kenya Youth Manifesto is a vital tool that will work in championing more youth participation in Kenya’s democratic process actively. It will also ensure that youth play a pivotal role in implementing policies like the National Youth Development Policy, Kenya Youth Manifesto, Medium Term Plans, Vision 2030, and Sustainable Development Goals. By this far, it will possibly strengthen democratic participation and citizen engagement, participating in democracy efforts, registering to vote, participating in political party leadership, and vying for elected office. This can increase the number of youth in public service and promote information sharing across youth platforms to raise awareness of the democratic processes.

The Kenya Youth Manifesto 2022 has been prepared for and by the youth of Kenya.  It seeks to place Kenyan youth issues prominently on the national development agenda in Kenya. The manifesto reflects on the views, aspirations, and perspectives of young people in Kenya and is drawn from national and international instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, and Social Rights (to which Kenya is a signatory and which affirms that all human beings are entitled to social rights), the chapter on the Bill of Rights in the Kenyan Constitution of 2010 (which provides for the enjoyment of economic and social rights under Article 43 1 (a-f) on six sectors), the East African Community Youth Policy, the African Youth Charter, and the World Programme of Action for Youth, as well as on guidelines, tools,  standards, and research developed by non-governmental organizations and academic institutions.

The Kenyan government has been making efforts to promote youth participation in promoting human rights, governance, entrepreneurship, environmental preservation, and building peace and cohesion. It places an obligation on the state to take proactive measures such as affirmative action programs to ensure that young people have access to education, training, and opportunities for their association, representation, and participation in the political, social, economic, and other spheres of life.

The project's proposed undertaking will complete three complementary objectives: 1) to bolster increased participation of young people in democratic affairs in the forthcoming general election, thereby protecting human rights for all and fostering citizen engagement which results in more effective service delivery and a responsive and accountable state; 2) to promote active involvement of youth in peacebuilding and conflict prevention initiatives which include, but are not limited to, early warning systems and response efforts, violence prevention, advocacy work, and humanitarian assistance; and 3) to promote eco-friendly, sustainable solutions through climate change resilience mapping and economic growth resulting in green jobs for the youth.

Tina Kaggia: What were the steps involved in developing the document?

Willice Onyango: The Kenya Youth Manifesto (KYM) 2022 is a product of concerted efforts by various stakeholders, with youth political and civic leaders from eight regions) in Kenya is at the manifesto's core. Several stakeholders and strategic partners, including the International Republican Institute (IRI), Denmark Embassy Youth Sounding Board, 254 Youth Policy Cafe, The Global Development Incubator and The Global Opportunity Youth Network, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), IEBC Youth Coordinating Committee, Youth Senate Kenya, Catholic Relief Service (CRS), Political Leadership and Governance Programme Alumni Network (PLGP Alumni), Reach Out Africa, Volunteer Service Overseas, Run for Office, Council of Africa Youth Advocates (CAYA), National Youth Council (NYC) and The Youth Cafe (TYC) were instrumental in ensuring that the manifesto came to fruition.

The KYM 2022 was created out of a series of discussions and consultations. The consultations began with forty political and civic youth leaders from across the country during the National Youth Summit 2022. The political and civic youth leaders, through a human-centered design approach, persona creation, and focus group discussions (FGD), created a persona of their constituents based on the four distinct age categories given (i.e., 15-18 years, 19-24 years, 25-29 years, and 30-35 years) on a template that highlighted the practical needs of a target youth removing all preconceived bias of a target audience. The personas were presented to the plenary for further input and feedback from all participants.

The youth leaders from different regions and institutions also weighed in on the issues affecting youth at economic, social, and political levels, allowing key recommendations to be drawn. They also discussed how the manifesto would be disseminated, localized, and adopted. They also discussed how the manifesto would be disseminated, localized, and adopted. Furthermore, they created accountability mechanisms and identified collaborators to actualize the implementation of the different calls for action. The social, political, and economic issues and recommendations from the National Youth Summit were further subjected to scrutiny by 240 young people from 8 regions to provide grassroots-level inputs by youth who are currently not sufficiently engaged in the political process to ensure that their priority issues are captured comprehensively.

Key Informant Interviews were conducted to address information gaps, particularly policy recommendations. A Technical Working Group comprising 22 young people from the private sector, youth-serving organizations, and NGOs was convened to develop the Kenya Youth Manifesto 2022 document, building its content from existing literature and aligning the manifesto to existing policies and legal instruments. The reviewed manifesto was then presented to a smaller team of writers to refine it before being subjected to a randomly selected youth jury to critique the document. Before dissemination and localizations, the manifesto was launched and presented for sign-off and adoption by presidential, gubernatorial, and member of parliament candidates.

Tina Kaggia: What are these key demands the Youth want to be addressed in the next government?

Willice Onyango; The Kenya Youth Manifesto is divided into two (2) parts. Part I - Introduction provides some background information on the Manifesto, including its purpose and the processes used in developing it. Part II - Call to Action highlights key thematic issues under three broad pillars; Economic, Social, and Political.  Economic issues directly impact the ability of youth to generate and benefit from income-generating streams. Social issues include those obstacles currently preventing societies from working optimally. Political issues illuminate the common barriers to youth involvement in politics. The content of each pillar moves from examining and identifying key challenges in each pillar to providing recommendations and homegrown solutions. The actions recommended in the Kenya Youth Manifesto are directed toward specific stakeholders in youth development, including government, civil society, the private sector, United Nations agencies, donors, the international community, and young people themselves, among others. Thus, all stakeholders need to recognize that investing in youth calls for cooperation, institutional support, and sustaining youth-serving relationships across society and the different spheres of governance.

Some of the economic demands include the creation of at least 1,500,000 new youth employment opportunities annually by enhancing the operationalization of the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) policy by removing existing bureaucracies and bottlenecks to increase market access to the youth-led enterprises. Also, Increase investment in critical sectors with a higher job multiplier effect to create mass employment to spur growth. Similarly, we demand the Involvement of youth in agro-produce, livestock market exploitation, and value addition by providing youth with agricultural machinery, inputs, and equipment. Involve youth in post-harvest operations and improve the marketing of agricultural incentives to motivate the youth to venture into agriculture and green jobs. County Governments should regularly organize annual agricultural training and expos for the youth.

We also want to see an increase in youth access to finance, capital, and grants. This can be achieved by strengthening local-level government-funded credit guarantee schemes expressly targeting the youth to ease access to finance for young people in Kenya. Provide conducive trade and business environments. Business start-ups are occasionally constrained by the initial requirements/conditions to access finance. The need for security and collateral, as well as huge interest rates, lockout many youths from such facilities. Other statutory regulations in the form of licenses and levies further exclude them. These, coupled with the initial costs for setting up businesses (e.g., acquiring premises, assets, etc.), leave them with little capital to run the business.

The manifesto has demands related to the social spheres, such as delivering inclusive, high-quality Education and Training to youth by enabling equitable access to quality skills and education at all levels through dedicated national funding for Bursary Commissions and youth desks, as well as for increased skills development initiatives (both in-school and out-of-school). This can also be achieved by ensuring that the curriculum review for formal and informal sectors provides training that addresses skills and market mismatch and incorporates digital skills, soft skills, and emerging 21st-century technical skills through all levels of education (fundamental and technical).

A key social issue related to the promotion and protection of Young People’s Health and social well-being. The Manifesto is calling for the successive government to sustain solid political will and commitment around robust and free Universal Health Coverage through the National Hospital Insurance Fund for the unemployed youth and catalyze increased modern domestic and external investment towards health systems strengthening, especially at the community level. Apart from this, the provision and implementation of an affordable and accessible high-quality health insurance scheme will enable youth to access quality healthcare by including mental, sexual, reproductive, and sanitation services.

Furthermore, the manifesto calls for an increased action towards achieving social protection by promoting youth empowerment through creating programs like cash transfers, access to credit facilities, and provision of food subsidies that can reduce youth vulnerability to poverty and poor living conditions, especially among young women and girls as well as enacting social protection laws that address the custodial and co-parenting plight of single parents and establish County Government Kitty and empowerment programs to assist young single parents in taking care of their children.

Another important social issue is increased financial support in the sports and creative economy by Increasing and diversifying funding and investment in sports and the innovative economy by increasing funding for the Sports, Art, and Social Development Fund by at least 25 percent. County and National Governments to establish modern sporting facilities and streamline the Sports Regulations to promote the equitable participation of youth regardless of gender, ethnicity, income, disability, or any other characteristics. This can also be achieved by establishing a mechanism to train, streamline, equip, manage, and monetize the sports and creative economy by using sports for civic engagement at all levels of the community.

The last pillar is the political transformation that the youth want to have. Firstly, we need to ensure systematic coordination of the youth function in both tiers of government by devolving the youth function to have a stand-alone Youth Department at the County, Sub-County, and ward level and champion for full implementation of youth policies at the national and county levels. And also forming a stand-alone ministry for Youth Development at The Office of the President to ensure the mainstreaming of youth issues across all sectors of the economy and all ministries of government.

It is paramount that the youth representation numbers rise within the government and its agencies. An allocation matrix needs to be created which allocates 30% of state funding to youth groups while also implementing capacity-building programs that are geared toward the younger generation. This includes having 50% of party-list slates being made up of youth, ensuring that at least 50% of nominees on party lists are young people too. All these changes will require organizations to act with good faith, most importantly from their leadership - however, it can only happen if it's started by The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.

Young people also want the inculcation of a robust culture of adherence to civic duty by the youth. One way would be to create Youth Development Centers within the functions of the National Youth Service to ensure the incorporation of high school graduates for the first six months to train them in various skills, including technical skills, to prepare them for post-high school and national responsibilities. We can also include and promote ethics, anti-corruption, and general civic education in the Kenyan educational curriculum at all levels of education for informed citizenship.

Lastly, we have to entrench active public participation by restructuring regulations in political parties to accommodate and encourage participatory democracy that is upheld by merit and increases the slots of representation of youth in key decision-making organs in political parties. While mainstreaming digital media is a space to enhance public participation and articulate issues.

Tina Kaggia: Now that the document has been launched, what are the critical steps that will be taken to ensure that the key demands of the youth are Addressed? 

Willice Onyango: The Kenya Youth Manifesto Launch was a success, particularly with the representation of the two major leading coalitions in the 2022 elections, Azimio One Kenya Alliance and Kenya Kwanza, as well as tens of major political parties, including the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Wiper, United Democratic Alliance (UDA), and Kenya African National Union (KANU) with the party representatives making a commitment in regards to the adoption and implementation of the manifesto. The political party representatives appended their signatures on the declaration of commitment as a show of commitment that they will seek to adopt the recommendations of the manifesto, make the recommendation as part of their individual party manifesto and push for its implementation. For instance, the Azimio la Umoja included some of the solutions on the Kenya Youth Manifesto in their recently launched manifesto, which includes creating a ministry for youth affairs and accessible and affordable credit facilities on favorable terms.

Furthermore, we are planning to have local-level roundtable discussions in various counties with various political aspirants to engage them in discussions and dissemination of the Youth Manifesto. This is intended to promote buy-in and localization of the youth manifesto by encouraging them to adopt the recommendations identified in the manifesto in their own manifestos ahead of the elections.

A dissemination and communication plan was also developed, with the primary audiences being the executive arm of the government, political parties, and the youth constituency and the secondary audience being trade unions, the private sector, the international community, and other stakeholders. The goal of the dissemination plan is to promote awareness, encourage adoption and dissemination of the manifesto, encourage political parties to incorporate it in their manifestos, and hold key players, the youth, accountable to the Kenya youth manifesto. The KYM dissemination will be done through press releases, digital media campaigns, events, influencers, community forums, press conferences, and media events among others.

Tina Kaggia: Malaria has been singled out as a public health crisis, one which the youth want to be addressed comprehensively. What specific demands have you made around malaria?

Willice Onyango: Over the past two decades, significant progress has been realized in the global efforts to roll back malaria. For sub-Sahara Africa, and Kenya in particular, the fight is far from over. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa bears a disproportionately high disease burden, with 95% of reported cases and 96% of malaria-related malaria-related deaths. In Kenya, 10,700 lives are lost every year due to this preventable and treatable disease.

 For a long time, the youth have been marginalized in the fight against malaria. This is despite most of them being willing to fight the disease. A survey released in March 2021 by RBM Partnership to End Malaria indicates that 9 out of 10 African youth want to take personal action in the fight against malaria.  More than 66 percent believe that the disease can be eradicated within their lifetime. Their willingness to take initiatives against the disease shows that they are affected even though they are not the most vulnerable demographic; children under the age of five and pregnant women. Youth are forced to take up the responsibility of caregivers when their family members catch malaria, diverting their energy and finances from education or work. This is always a daunting task, given the burden they already carry.

 The youth are more vulnerable to economic shocks due to unemployment or irregular pay. In addition, they are mostly absorbed by SMEs that lack the financial muscles to cater to their welfare in case of emergencies. This, coupled with the high cost of living, securing a health insurance cover for them comes as secondary. Some young people, when faced with problems, resolve to substance abuse and later fall into depression and other health risks. In 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled Universal Health Coverage under the Big Four Agenda, aimed at easing the medical burden of Kenyans but after almost five years, the impact of the initiative is yet to be felt at the household level.  Young people are forced to dig deep in their pockets to pay for medical bills.

 Their hopes are vested in political leaders but with every change in power, their problems have remained the same. Given their numbers, aspirants in the upcoming election are pulling every stop to win their support. However, going by the turnout in the recent voter registration drives, young people are disillusioned due to the empty promises that characterize Kenyan politics. Youth participation in the electoral process is likely to be low in the upcoming election in August if they are not convinced by aspirants through their manifestos.

 To solve the current stalemate and prevent the youth from giving up on seeking change through elections, we at The Youth Café, a multi-award-winning youth lobby group, in partnership with International Republican Institute, launched the ‘National Youth Manifesto 2022’ and we are calling out parties and presidential candidates to use it as a benchmark in engaging the youth in leadership. Among other things, we have listed areas under our social protection pillar that need commitment ahead and after the general election. One critical area that remains a barrier to youth progress is access to affordable healthcare. We are urging political parties to align their manifestos with ours. A boost in budgetary allocations in the fight against malaria and other communicable diseases is one of the grievances listed.

 The pursuit is in line with the ongoing continental ‘Draw a line against malaria Campaign,' which has attracted support from other youths across Africa and especially celebrities, who are putting a voice on malaria eradication. Notably is marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge who in the past has been negatively impacted by the disease. Connected to the campaign, President Uhuru Kenyatta, the current chairman of African Leaders for Malaria Alliance (ALMA), locally launched the ‘Youth Malaria Army’ and called upon other African state leaders to follow suit. Similarly, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria created a youth workstream; the youthful formations are tasked to champion political and resource commitment in the fight against malaria. The inclusion of the youth in the aforementioned initiatives shows the realization by health stakeholders of the power held by the youth in eradicating Malaria.

 Under the broader fight against malaria in the continent, Malaria no More and African Leaders for Malaria Alliance (ALMA), among other partners, are calling on the governments, private sectors, and individuals to increase efforts in the fight against malaria. The organizations target to end Malaria by 2030. Malaria eradication will take a collective contribution and, especially from the youths, who are energetic, have the numbers and the necessary skills to eradicate the disease.

The Youth Café is a multi-award-winning, pan-African, youth organization that strives to enrich the lives of young people by modeling and advancing youth-led and rights-based approaches to foster young people’s civic efficacy, community resilience, sustainable development, and equitable society, as well as proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress, and inspiring transformative change by utilizing innovative research, policy, and advocacy actions.