By Winnie Kabintie

ICT Cabinet Secretary  CS Joe Mucheru on Wednesday launched the Kenya Youth Development Policy 2019 during the national celebrations of the International Youth Day.

The Kenya Youth Development Policy (KYDP) 2019 seeks to provide an opportunity to improve the quality of life for the youth in Kenya through their empowerment and participation in economic and democratic processes as well as in community and civic affairs.

It also advocates for the creation of a supportive social, cultural, economic and political environment that will empower the youth to be active actors in national development.

The policy envisions a society where youth have an equal and responsible opportunity to realize their
full potential in socio-economic and political aspirations, through honest and hard work.

“The youth are our strength, our wealth, and the drivers of innovation in Kenya.  Deliberate and systematic effort is necessary to appropriately equip and empower the youth of Kenya to attain and realize their full potential and in turn drive attainment of development objectives set out in Kenya Vision (2030); and international commitments including African Union Agenda (2063), United Nations Strategy for the Youth (2014) and SDGs (2030),” Prof. Margaret Kobia, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs

Kenya Youth Development Index

Among the most outstanding priorities that the Policy proposes to focus on is the development of a Kenya Youth Development Index, which will be used to track and measure the impact of youth initiatives, programmes, projects and activities at various levels.

The Index, a first of its kind in the country,  will reportedly have clear indicators that will make it easy to obtain relevant data and information through regular national and county-level surveys and reporting mechanisms.

Youth Strengths and Challenges

The Kenya Youth Development Policy recognizes the creativity, innovativeness, and productivity presented by the youth, together with their energy and drive and potential to become transformative leaders as key strengths and promises to harness and optimize these strengths for the realization of the demographic dividend.

Unemployment, underemployment and lack of employable skills; poor health, insufficient socio-economic
support, drug use and substance abuse; involvement in crime; lack of access to basic service,
education and housing; radicalization and violent extremism; are some of the challenges the youth face as highlighted in the Policy.

AGE
The Policy defines the Youth as a person aged 18 years and who has not reached the age of 35 years but proposes some interventions for young people aged between 15 to 17 years.

The Policy gives the mandate to drive the youth agenda in the country to
the State Department in charge of Youth Affairs, with direct oversight by the parent Ministry.

Mandate to drive the Youth Agenda

The Policy gives the mandate to drive the youth agenda in the country to the State Department in charge of Youth Affairs, with direct oversight by the parent Ministry.

Implementation

The Policy shall be implemented by both National and County Governments. The Policy implementation mechanism will be operationalized through the integrated implementation plan and annual action plans at national and county levels detailing: Policy priorities, key actions, indicators, timelines and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders.

Budget

The Policy proposes that the Government allocates adequate resources in the National Annual
Budget to facilitate its successful implementation.

Read the Full Kenya Youth Development Policy 2019 HERE