Inside Sonia

Musing on Youth Development: Picking up those at the Bus Stop

My musings on youth development are based on my experience as a young person within a volunteer organization led by young people that aimed to build young people’s knowledge and expose them to experiences that would enable them lead and drive development in private, public or development sector.  My musings are also from my experience as an intern in a non-profit organization established to promote philanthropy and social responsibility among individuals and corporate citizens. These experiences allowed me engage with senior citizens of note who in parallel with their successful careers were also philanthropists. More interesting their careers were shaped at an early age while philanthropy was what they did in their “old” age. It gave the bend that young people were good to drive development not just as labourers but eventually as owners of production, innovators of products and services, creators of wealth and employment.

In his critique of my “Musings” Al Kags further reviews the National Youth Policy and draws the conclusion that young people are

to only participate in community and civic affairs – and therefore they are not to innovate or drive Kenya’s position into the future global dynamic. Further, the design of youth programmes can be construed as per the policy to mean that the programmes are to be focused on youth activities and not in organising youth as a factor of competitiveness.

I disagree.

First, a fact about the process of developing the National Youth Policy: this was a process that was open and consultative, particularly with young people that took close to seven years to materialize. The young people who engaged with the process were largely those out of school, involved in community development initiatives through local organizations.  Few, if any, were entrepreneurs or were innovators. At best they had faced the challenge of unsuccessfully accessing loans from financial institutions to support a business idea. For the most part the denial was due to a poorly developed business plan, lack of confidence in selling the idea and poor support systems for budding entrepreneurs – young or not – especially those in rural areas with low levels of education.

The National Youth Policy and the institution of the Council to implement the policy would unlock the windows and doors that prevented young people from using their talents or implementing their ideas because they lacked resources.  This involved dealing with the basic issues that held young people back – which includes the lack of visible and effective participation in community and civic affairs; the result being that they are not taken seriously unless they are in a family of note and means or have access to venture philanthropists who trust them on an individual basis. This is tough for the majority of young people in rural areas who have not completed primary or secondary school.

Generally, Kenya does not organize for competitiveness. The new young entrepreneurs jump high hurdles and rally against great obstacles to achieve. The consultative process of developing the National Youth Policy awakened policy makers to the “small man” and a national agenda to support “jua kali” that is mostly young people. And in doing so legislated the Micro Finance Act and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (no matter the criticism against it) to organize entrepreneurs for competitiveness.

The National Youth Policy did to help organize young people and more importantly those who support youth led development.

Funding Youth Development: Musings Continued

Is Kenya making progress in addressing the issues and needs of its young people?

In the reorganization of Government following the 2002 General Elections, the Government of President Mwai Kibaki established the Ministry of Youth Affairs in the Office of the President.  This was a first in Kenya's history - that there was an institution established to cater for a specific population demographic. Even women haven't had this privelege, as they continue to be bulkanised at one time with children, at another with sports, at another time with Social Services.

This Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports as it is now known is a hub of activity. The first and late Permanent Secretary Major Kinuthia Murugu (RIP) was an energetic, visionary man of action. He set up the Ministry headquarters in a matter of months and initiated a planning process whose results are evident today. Notwithstanding the criticism on those recruited as youth workers (officially referred to a youth officers) or the age represenation within the Ministry, the strategic plan suggests that good things have happened for young people in Kenya. The challenge now is for the Ministry to step up, set itself apart from the rest of the Government agencies and report to its constituents how well it has fared in implementing the strategic plan which it consulted far and wide to develop. Kenya needs to know how public funds have addressed the issues and nees of its young people in the last five years.

Riding on the back of the establishement of the Ministry was the launch of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) in 2006 in a high level event at the KICC, Nairobi. Presided by H.E. President Mwai Kibaki and hosted by then Ministry of Youth Affairs Hon. Dr. Mohammed Kuti.  The Government committed KShs 1 Billion to a revolving fund in support of youth enteprise. Any budding young entrepreneur from any corner of the country now had access to funds either directly at the Constituency level or from 33 financial intermediaries such as banks and cooperatives spread across the country. The loan terms were "youth friendly".  Alas! Three years later, there is hue and cry over access to the funds, and terms demanded by financial institutions; although the YEDF Board boasts success in enterprises established or boosted, they fail to specify indicators of growth either by industry, sector or even number of new jobs created through the Fund. 

As a good enteprise should, the Fund releases reports to its "stakeholders" - the Members of Parliament (MPs) ever quarter.  Few young people know of or access the Fund Status report. The YEDF Board and Secretariat staff say that it is "available on the website".  Tell that to the young man in Marsabit who bothers to find out about CDF allocations which are posted on notice boards locally. Even if he wanted to, he has little access to this information, even through his youth officer - who probably knows as much as he does i.e. allocation to the constituency and number of youth groups that have benefitted.

The Fund report as at 30 October 2009 states that KShs 2, 250,000 has been released since the Fund's inception in 2006/2007 FY.  Exactly 8, 586 youth groups in all provinces (and assumed all constituencies) have benefitted from the revolving constituency allocation of KShs 2 million per constituency. over 376million has been disbursed.  The financial intermediaries have reached 66, 330 beneficiaries with about KShs 2 billion.

So we know that public funds have been dedicated to and reach youth across Kenya.  The question remains, has it addressed the issues and needs of youth in Kenya? How have we as a Nation measured this response/progress against the investment? Are we making strides or sticking in the mud?

What has been the place of development partners and NGOs to ensure that Kenya making progress in addressing the issues and needs of its young people?

Analyzing the Impact of Funding for Youth Development

Is Kenya making progress in addressing the issues and needs of its young people? Is the funding provided by Government agencies and Development partners effectively addressing the problems in a systematic way that breaks the cycle of poverty? Should there be more done by all stakeholders to coordinate interventions at a high level to ensure greatest impact by every actor in their identified/preferred sector and region or operation? Is there a balance in the issues being addressed to ensure that youth are addressed at their point of need considering the social, psychological, cultural, biological, political and physical diversity?

There has been an increase in interest and financial support for youth development programmes by both state and non-state actors including international agencies as well as national and community level organizations. Yet in spite of the increasing interest and mainstreaming of youth programmes the problems affecting youth continue and the extent of poverty does not seem to be dissipating within this demographic. The National Youth Policy points out that this is attributable to the lack of a comprehensive policy to provide a blue print for youth development. 

Beyond this, it can be further attributed to the lack of a clear coordination mechanism for the myriad of actors in youth development, a poor macro-level monitoring and evaluation mechanism and the fact that youth is a transitional stage and hence issues affecting one generation may necessarily affect subsequent generations, as well as macro-level factors in governance and economic management.

Most citizens and organizations have focused on demanding accountability from Government with regard to the use of public resources. Yet, there is no systematic indication of how much has been ploughed in to youth development over the years to address these problems and by which actors.  For instance, there are numerous questions raised with regard to the number of new jobs created based on the Ministry’s Marshall Plan of 740,000 between 2009 and 2012; the number of new businesses established with from funding of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund; the demonstrable benefits to youth by the creation of the Ministry of Youth Affairs on key socio-political aspects in youth development – how much of the 2009/2010 budget for instance was allocated for youth development programmes; among others. 

Also important is to provide public information on any loans taken by to the Government towards youth development as well as other sources funding to youth development in Kenya on a large scale that compliment the efforts of Government.  In the first quarter of 2010, it is known that the United States Government has committed approximately US$45 million towards youth development programmes primarily around governance and economic empowerment. This is in addition to funds for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS programmes that similarly target youth; the World Bank has committed approximately US$50 million dollars largely for economic livelihood initiatives. This is in addition to other ongoing programmes under the Community Driven Development initiatives in where for instance there is US$ 1 million earmarked for youth in Western Kenya.  There are several other actors including UN agencies, the Government of Japan and other non-state actors such as foundations, trusts and NGOs that support youth development efforts in Kenya.

Many young people do not take advantage of the financial and technical resources available for youth development sometimes for the simple reason that they are not aware of the vast and diverse resources available to address their needs.

But whose role is it to monitor the impact of the investments in youth development programming? There is no single source of information on funding for youth development programmes, the sectors they support or the impact of the funding or programmes.

How then can progress be measured on whether the various interventions that address the myriad of problems facing young people are indeed responsive and contribute towards overall poverty reduction among youth in Kenya?

With the National Youth Policy in place, do all youth development programmes make reference and address the issues therein? Who ensures that this happens? What are the measures of success with regard to the high areas of investment in recent years including the focus on creating new jobs through promotion of youth enterprise; increase support for youth friendly reproductive health services; increased civic education and participation in governance and social accountability; high cost of education, poor returns on investment in education and high drop out rates – have these reduced the rates of poverty among youth?

It is estimated that there are approximately 16, 500 community based youth groups in Kenya. There are thousands other youth organizations registered as trusts, foundations or non-governmental organizations that work across the country. Have the investors in youth development sufficiently reached young people across most parts of the country or are there areas that remain underserved? Who enforces coverage to ensure a balance in youth development programmes?

These are critical questions that funding agencies and the Government would do well to respond to and as a result be accountable to the youth of Kenya.

Kijana, What's Your Legacy?

Ayub Mwakesi is the kind of Kenyan I want to be. At 29 years, I want to be able to be the Kenyan who takes action when I feel aggrieved.

Ayub Mwakesi is the petitioner from Matuga Constituency in Coast Province who has won an election petition case against Chirau Ali Mwakwere, the Party of National Unity (PNU) point man in the Coast Province.

Like many Kenyans, I am aware of several court petitions challenging the win of several sitting Parliamentarians. In the recent past the courts have ruled that in Bomachoge and South Mugirango the sitting MPs were not the valid winners of the parliamentary seats. There are several others pending.

I celebrate the ruling of the courts. First, because I think that Chirau Ali Mwakwere has been extremely arrogant in his management of the Ministry of Transport. This is a ‘leader’ who declared the much appreciate transport reform dubbed “Michuki rules” irrelevant on the basis that he too is a stakeholder in the public transport sector and is disadvantaged by the expensive life saving measures outlined and implemented by his predecessor. Second, in his handling of the Ferry Services, Mwakwere made empty promises about the replacement of the age old ferries whilst all the while knowing that the funds were insufficient to procure the necessary replacements. He made what would have been considered a reasonable suggestion that each ferry passenger pay a KShs 1 fee per day to enable the Ferry Services raise the funds to replace the ferries. However, his manner and scornful attitude said “Look people, just sort yourselves out. If you want a new ferry, pay for it. Stop hassling me.”  Mwakwere’s legacy in the Kenya public’s eye is one of increased death on the roads and risk to life at sea and in the air.

I celebrate that a one young man was Kenyan enough to do what is right to challenge the “almighty and powerful” on the simple principle that fraud is unjust.

I coordinate a national youth development programme. The programme aims to increase young people’s role in community and national development processes. Ayub has demonstrated that with the right support and obviously the right attitude and frame of mind any young Kenyan can do what is right for the country.

In the past two years I have engaged with young people from different parts of the country in a training process that aimed to build their skills as leaders – transformative leaders, servant leaders. We focused not on how educated they were or how much money they or their youth organizations had raised but more on their track record as young people on influencing change within their communities. We sought to build their skills so that they could be more inspired and more inspiring young leaders.  Many of them concluded the training session inspired, motivated and with a different yet positive attitude about themselves – and their ability to influence change. This we now call our “Shabaa” community of leaders with infinite possibilities. These young people will each leave a legacy within their sphere of influence. I must say that one Ayub Mwakesi from Matuga constituency “ni mwanashabaa”.  Not by training but by action.

“Shabaa” is about that one leader who has a vision for his community and guides others along that vision; that one leader whose sense of purpose is clear; that one leader whose integrity is without question; that one leader whose value system is clear to anyone.

Just to mention, a young Kenya Airways pilot was murdered on Nairobi’ Uhuru Highway a couple of weeks ago. His friends and family organized a peaceful procession in Nairobi to protest the increasing insecurity on that Highway and in Nairobi in general. Watching the procession, I was encouraged to see the large number of young professionals who were making the statement “enough is enough”.  You see we have been a country where it is the “ngo activists” to protest against Government and raise awareness on what is wrong with society. It has been said that those in the private sector and of the middle class don’t do anything about letting Government know that citizens are unhappy with the status quo. But on the late Captain’s death, the young professions (from the private sector and of the middle class) raised their voices and visibly protested.

I pray that Ayub’s success inspires many more Kenyans.  I pray that more young professionals raise their voices to influence change in Kenya.

We each must think what legacy we leave and whether we have done the best we could have as citizens of a Nation and of the World.

Maisha Chap Chapa (Loosely translated "fast food life")

But these were all random thoughts generated from an e-philanthropist’s words about the benefits non-profits can gain from technology.

I must add that on this second and final day of training I also learned that the youth organizations that I work with must document their wonderful works. The leaders of the organizations must document their personal journey and experiences in making their vision a reality. These youth organizations must make use of technology to fundraise but most importantly to demonstrate that good leaders exist and are doing necessary and wonderful things for their communities across Kenya. For these, they must get listed on important international directories such as www.dmoz.org or http://dt.yahoo.com or www.zoominfo.com. The fact is the impact of their work is not based on a “fast food approach”. The work of these organizations touches another young person’s life, changing and challenging their World view and ultimately I hope, make them a more responsible Kenyan and World citizen.

Learning Something Anew

Resolutions

my first blog

This is my first blogpost.

Sonia Rasugu

Programme Coordinator - Youth Development

Kenya Community Development Foundation, KCDF

Corner of Pamba/Chai Road, Pangani

P.O. Box 10501

00100

Nairobi

(O) +254 20 8067441 or  020 8067442 and 020 354239

Fax +254 20 8067440,

(M) +254 733 262188

www.kcdf.net