Latest News And Updates
The Rap Session On Youth Leadership And Political Participation held on the 20th of November, explored the role of youth leadership and political participation in Kenya’s democratic process. The session brought together national leaders from the Executive Office of the President, Youth Ministry and other functions of government along with the youth to discuss these pertinent issues. These issues are even more urgent given the upcoming general elections in 2022.
Kenyan youth have been disconnected and disengaged with political processes and electoral participation, and this has caused widespread apathy among young voters. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IEBC is collaborating with youth serving organizations (YSO’s) to provide young people with a forum to fully and effectively deal with issues important to them during the electioneering period. The Youth Café is part of the Youth Coordinating Committee (YCC) working with the IEBC to drive voter education and enhance the voters registration drive.
The Kenyan youth have been largely excluded from meaningful political participation in the past. Hence, leading up to the 2022 general elections, The Youth Café and partners are collaboratively writing Regional/County Youth Manifestos that will eventually feed into a National Kenya Youth Manifesto 2022 (KYM 2022) to outline the views of the nation's youth and demand to be given equal chance and supported to actively participate in the forthcoming general elections.
The Africa True Stories program is a digital brand project implemented by The Youth Café in collaboration with Pumbaa Eco. We invite leaders in different industries, young people, and Chinese people living in Africa to share stories about their lives in Africa. In doing so, the information gap and bias is reduced and enables Chinese and African content creators to obtain income growth and digital opportunities.
Despite the need to be vaccinated, Africa is falling behind in the global vaccination drive with only 3% of the continent’s population being fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a press release from the African Union. Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), dedicated to “immunization for all” had a virtual introductory meeting with The Youth Café. The meeting involved discussion on increased engagement and collaboration in the African continent engaged in Covid-19 advocacy at the regional and continental levels.
The Youth Café is partnering with One Young World to promote the Enterprise for Peace Scholarship for 2022 for delegates to participate in the global Summit around creating youth employment opportunities for prosperous and peaceful societies. The One Young World Summit 2022 will see 2,000 young leaders from 190+ countries descend to Tokyo for the global forum for young leaders. During the Summit, delegates will present and debate solutions to our time’s most pressing issues alongside senior leaders.
The Youth Café and Africa Union Commission commemorated the International Rural Women Day under the theme Strengthening rural women’s contribution to sustainable food systems through the African Continental Free Trade Area. The purpose was to target different stakeholders that are involved in supporting the empowerment of rural women such as Member States, Regional Economic Communities, Academics, Financial Institutions, Development Partners, Women Right Champions, UN Agencies and Civil Society Organizations.
International Republican Institute, The Youth Café and partners are working on a project aimed to enhance the skills of Kenyan youth to gain influence within the political establishment and to serve in civic and political leadership roles. To accomplish this, the project will hold a series of capacity-building training to increase the technical skills of Kenyan youth to successfully participate in the party primaries and contest in the elections.
The Youth Café was privileged to have been invited to take part in this year’s Babacar Ndiaye Lecture, which took place virtually on Wednesday, 20 October 2021 at 4:00 p.m. Nairobi Time. This year's keynote lecture was under the theme "The importance of science, technology and innovation in the transformation of African economies under the AfCFTA" and was delivered by Prof. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, first female President of Mauritius and 2007 laureate of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards.
