Youth for Sustainable Development (Nairobi Chapter)

 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...

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...

 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...

 As we continue to feature our youth volunteers and highlight the incredible contributions they continue to make in the community, take a look at some of our youth champions featured in the previous weeks. WANJIRU MBUGUA Background and passion Wanjiru has an academic background in Gender and Development Studies and Project Management. She is an avid believer in humanity and passionate about matters social justice and inclusion, youth advocacy and governance, human rights, inclusive education, gender equality and development agenda. Leadership She is currently a Programs Coordinator at The Action Foundation, an award-winning youth-led NGO that works with communities, organizations, local and international bodies to end exclusion, discrimination and violence against children, women and girls with disabilities in marginalized areas. Mbugua has previously been a lead trainer for USAID-funded Kenya Youth Employment and Skills (K-YES) project with Research Triangle Institute (RTI...

Youth represent the most copious asset Kenya has or will have over the near future. Surveys and reports continue to show that there are persistent risks and challenges facing Kenyan youth.  The youth are and will remain to be a significant share of the Kenya’s population, this means that, failure to provide appropriate opportunities for this large section of the population will lead to continued enormous economic, political, cultural and social consequences. Worse still, Kenya may not be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that it intends to achieve by 2030.  Developing and implementing appropriate strategies to mitigate the risks and challenges youth face needs to be more of a priority for the government and other relevant stakeholders than it currently is. We are in taxing times, with the COVID-19 pandemic pulling down the world population and resulting to effects such as; increases in gender-based violence (GBV) in lock-down, unintended pregnancies, t...

The current season has tested humanity as a whole. In spite of the happenings, Covid-19 has renewed our thinking, if not our way of life. What stands out is the resilience that has been renewed in this unprecedented time, and the positive spirit of volunteering by youth in different communities. Ever wondered why you need to be actively engaged in creating change as a young person? But how do you engage when a crisis threatens not only the economy but also everyone’s life? Do you know that one good deed from you can build us back better? It is important to know that the achievement of this is only possible through awareness, understanding and most importantly action. Yes! We. Must. Act! Youth are worried A lot has happened, the good and bad, well… mostly bad. Youth are worried about many things in this period, and joblessness, mental health following loss of jobs due to various government restrictions and a rise in domestic disputes and gender based violence seem to be the greatest co...

  At YSD-Nairobi, we have decided to highlight our volunteers who are the champions in the community. Their contributions to making the communities better places is notable and worth sharing with the world. Beginning August 2020, we will be featuring one champion weekly as a way of shining our light on them. Mercy Thayo, our media correspondent, talked to our founding Chairperson Mr. Kenneth Ramah to answer a few questions regarding his passion and leadership experience. Have a look, enjoy! Kenneth Ramah-YSD Nairobi Chapter Founding Chairperson Name: Kenneth Ramah Area of interest: Resilient Livelihoods, Social Inclusion and Gender, and Climate Action   1.       Tell us more about your background I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Planning and Management from Kenyatta University. I have volunteered in the International Citizen Service project with VSO and Balloon Ventures from August 2016 to December 2017, serving as a volunteer and ...