Sports and Youth Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has announced that his ministry has kicked off efforts to draft a National Action Plan on Youth Peace and Security.
The CS called for the immediate formation of a multi-sectoral committee to work with his ministry to draft the plan.
The CS announced this during a webinar organised by the Rotary Club which brought together national and regional stakeholders working on Youth Peace and Security. “I hope that from this engagement today we can have a team to work directly with my office to start putting together with the National Youth Council the ILGLR Youth forum to start putting together the National Youth Action plan.” he said adding that the action plan will provide a policy frame on how to work together in a structured, deliberate and intentional manner.
The CS announced that his ministry is working on the “Youth Development Bill” that targets the engagement of young people in a cross section of issues in Kenya. If we hasten the process of putting together the national action plan, we will be able to influence that bill.
The webinar organized by the Rotary Club of Nairobi as a follow up to the recent discussion on Youth Peace and Security on the World Understanding Day on 23rd February was hosted by the Rotary president Ambassador Dr. Josephine Ojiambo.
Speakers during the webinar included the patron of the Global Peace Foundation Kenya Dr. Manu Chandaria who made a donation of half a million shillings to kickstart the process. “As the Global Peace Foundation we have accepted that young people have a crucial role in advancing peace and security.”
The Deputy Head of Mission at the Finnish Embassy Mr. Otto Kivinen announced that the Finnish Embassy will soon convene a meeting of selected stakeholders working on Kenya’s National Action Plan on Youth Peace and Security and said that Finland was committed to support the process.
The Country Director of the Global Peace Foundation Kenya Mr. Daniel Juma said that Africa is the youngest continent and we can take advantage of the youth bulge as a human resource for innovation and economic development and not a burden.
Ms. Yvette Odoyo from the YPS Coalition gave a report on what they are doing as a coalition to advance the YPS agenda. “The coalition is regularly collaborating on the Global YPS coalition to develop joint strategies and campaigns” She said.
Ms Rosemary Were from the National Cohesion and integration Commission (NCIC) said the NCIC which is under the Ministry of Interior said the youth cannot be ignored in peacebuilding and that’s the NCIC works closely with the youth. “The youth played a very key role in advocating for peace and we worked with a number of them in delivering a peaceful 2022 general elections” she said.
Mr. Mike Eldon from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance called on the youth to be MAD (Make a Difference and mentioned the work done by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance through the Mkenya Daima Initiative which also played a huge role in the 2022 elections.
Ms. Beatrice from the YMCA who said the young people are looking for ways to stop being idle and asked “How do we create an alternative livelihoods to ensure they have something to keep themselves busy” She also said said mental health is a huge issue when it it comes to Youth Peace and Security.
Other speakers included Mr. Kennedy Walusala from the ICGLR, Mr. Saji Prelis from Search for Common Ground, Mr. Samuel Budoi from the Global Peace Foundation Kenya, Ms. Sophy Waliaula and Viridiana Wasike from the National Youth Council and several others.
