Review youth policies to help young people

Young people aged between 15 and 34 years, who form 35 per cent of the Kenyan population, have the highest unemployment rate of 67 per cent.

Over one million young people without any skills enter the labour market every year. A further 500,000 join after completing some form of training.

More than 1.3 million jobs need to be created every year to meet this demand. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the government to strengthen and scale up quality skill development and job creation.

The government deserves praise for the many initiatives it has embarked on to improve the condition of the country’s young population and reviewing the existing national youth policy would enhance these efforts and yield much-anticipated results.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, Mr William Ruto, came to power through the overwhelming support of young people. One of the promises they made was realised when the Sh6 billion Uwezo Fund was unveiled. This was the culmination of the Jubilee coalition’s pledge to propel youth and women to the centre of national prosperity.

Speaking during the launch of the fund in Nairobi on September 8, 2013, President Kenyatta said the government was not merely disbursing money to the youth, but incubating enterprise, catalysing innovation, promoting industry, employing the youth, and growing the economy.

The Jubilee administration pledged to ensure that the youth are represented in key positions in government ministries, departments, and agencies. This is yet to be realised and there are no clear guidelines on how to coordinate the many government interventions on the youth agenda at all levels.

This omission has significantly compromised outcomes, as many have been left to the parent ministries or implementers.

Most county governments have concentrated on food security and have asked youths to venture into agriculture. Most have not bothered to find out if the youth are interested in the sector.

The review of the policy should be guided by an appreciation that there is a lot that needs to be done to exploit the existing opportunities and tackle the main challenges. Undoubtedly, we need a focused policy that can create a foundation to genuinely address the needs, aspirations, and concerns of the youth.

Most of the current efforts have failed to appreciate the history of the youth in this country. If they had, the implementers would have realised that in order to reverse the situation, there needs to be an element of affirmative action to uplift the young people from historically marginalised backgrounds.

The recent troubles in Kibera point to a fundamental issue. Youth development projects, indeed all development programmes, should not be politicised.

They should be focused on transforming lives, not scoring political points or winning voter numbers. For a start, the government needs to revise Sessional Paper No. 3, the National Youth Policy 2007, and the National Youth Council Act, No. 10 of 2009, last reviewed in 2012, to help achieve some of these targets.

These should, in turn, guide county governments’ efforts to set up their youth policies to fill the gaps.

The writer is the executive director, County Governance Watch. [email protected]