Youth for Sustainable Development (Nairobi Chapter)

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Climate change- the elephant in the room!

You might have already heard of the term ‘Climate Change,’ but what does it mean? Conversations at local, national, and global levels have highlighted the urgency of tackling climate change to save life on the planet and protect future generations. Communities are rallying to call upon their leaders to make decisions that put climate resilience at the centre of development. If you are new to climate change work, this blog should help you understand a few things about climate change and why it is a pressing need globally. The UN defines climate change as the ‘long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.’ These shifts can be caused by natural phenomena such as variations in the solar cycle, though human (anthropogenic) activities have been the main drivers of climate change since the 1800s. Humans burn fossil fuels that emit Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and nitrous monoxide, which destroy the ozone layer, trapping the sun’s heat a...

Your mental health matters!

Mental health concerns continue to be on the rise. Incidences of suicide make the news headlines every other day. While depression is a global health concern, in Kenya alone, 1.9 million people are affected by mental illnesses. In the last decade, Kenya has seen a rise of suicide cases at an alarming rate of 85 per cent. Data has also shown that more men than women are likely to die through suicide. The covid-19 pandemic hasn’t made things better. Loss of income, social interruptions, education interruptions and many other changes in our daily lives have increased stress, tension and led to depression. With many people not sure of how to tell that they are depressed, they, in the long run get overwhelmed and self-destruct. Common statements such as “Act like a man”, “Be strong like a man”, “A man shouldn’t cry” continue to plunge men into depression, mental illnesses and suicide. The society sees a man as a strong, extraordinary creature that cannot fall to his knees....

Hello Novermber! We continue to highlight our youth champions who continue to transform their communities in various capacities. This article focuses our spotlight on our last 2 champions. We celebrate their community development contributions. ROBERT RUHIU Background and Passion Robert is an actuarial science student. He is an avid volunteer and aspiring entrepreneur with a passion to help other young people develop economically through entrepreneurship. He is also very involved in the efforts to combat climate change and environmental destruction. Leadership and Achievements He has played a key role in multiple community outreach programs with various organizations including VSO, Volunteer-Involving Organizations, Greenpeace Africa and the Hult Prize. While volunteering in VSO he helped plan a three-day training to empower young people with hearing disability gain employment skills. He also organized a clean-up and waste manag...

Champion spotlight

We present two of our youth champions, Mercy and Stan, who continue to transform the community in their own unique ways. Kindly have a read and get to know them better. Enjoy! MERCY KABUTU Background and passion Mercy is a Human Resource professional and is passionate about elevating other people's livelihoods through charity and using her career expertise to mentor fellow youths. She has been a volunteer with VSO Kenya and later supported the VSO Resourcing Department. Leadership and key achievements Mercy’s greatest achievement is transferring knowledge to others through training and watching them make better decisions and perform their roles efficiently. As a National Volunteer with VSO, she trained 20 participants on social accountability and were later able to conduct a social audit exercise in 7 public primary schools. Mercy is also a member of FOC (Friends of the Community) a CBO, and has managed to visit over 5 counties and more than 30 children ho...

How to Involve African Youth in Peace and Security

Photo | Courtesy Africa’s population is expected to reach around 2.3 billion by 2050. About 41% of the people in the continent are below 15 years old while another 19% are youth between 15 and 24 years old. The Africa’s youth population is growing rapidly and is expected to reach over 830 million by 2050. It is also important to note that, youth comprise over one billion people, 600 million of whom live in violence- and conflict-affected areas. They also represent one-third of those displaced by conflict. Estimates of direct conflict deaths in 2015 show that more than 90 percent of all casualties occur among young adult males (UNFPA, 2015). It is quite evident that, young people are vulnerable and account for the greatest population affected by conflict. The history of insecurity in Africa associates high youth unemployment with the numerous situations of instability on the continent such as political strife, violent extremism and terrorist activities such as Al-Shabaab in...

Champion Spotlight

This article highlights three of our youth champions. As we share more about them, we hope you will be inspired or will inspire other youth to take action in solving community issues. Enjoy! CLAIRE LUNG'AHI Background Claire pursued BSc Community Health and Development from Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology and graduated in 2018. She has been a full time volunteer since 2017. She is a SRHR Educator at Positive Young Women Voices, Women Leadership Champion at International Community of Women Living with HIV (WLHIV) Kenya, and also a GBV and Child protection Advocate/Documenting Officer at Dandora Community Justice Centre. Claire does all these on voluntary basis. Passion and Interest She is passionate about community service by linking Health and Development especially amongst adolescents, women and youth. Her passion is to advocate for period positivity by challenging societal mentality towards Menstrual Health Management. Claire also r...