PRE-AU-EU YOUTH SUMMIT FOR MOMBASA COUNTY

VENUE:   CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP CHURCH.

DATE:      8^TH NOVEMBER 2017.

EVENT:   PRE-AU-EU YOUTH SUMMIT FOR MOMBASA COUNTY

The AYICC-AYP team arrived in Mombasa ready to vehemently engage the young minds of Mombasa on matters that were most important to them. This great expectation could be due to the fact that enthusiastic youth in Vihiga had given the team a run for their money. The team encountered a quite unexpected audience ready to engage in mind-boggling discussions. It was a disappointment to find that some of our equipment got shy of the audience and refused to function out of the blues or maybe it was the hot temperatures. But this would not deter the team from achieving its objective neither were they going to let it intimidate them.

Despite the initial low turnout we held on to the boat of hope as one Mr. Isaac Oindo gave an insightful presentation on what our organization was all about and what we had come to engage them in and why was it important for us to engage them in the activity. Maybe it was because the presenter was so good or maybe we could attribute it to the fact that the gospel of youth invested had not yet fully been embraced in the area, therefore, getting them more curious about the whole event. The questions could not just stop coming which was a sign that the team had managed to really connect with the audience who were receptive to the dose we had given them. Before Mr. Oindo could put the mic down more young people kept streaming in, probably their allies who had earlier arrived had informed them of the good news the team had brought to them and therefore thought it was wise for them to share with them. This was a sign of great things to come.

Mark Arango would then take the ball to hos court and take the audience through a quenching discussion on how they could tap into art, culture and sports for their benefit. Mr. Arango brought to light the deeper meaning of art, culture, and sports and made everyone in the room question their initial definition of these three simple but crucial words. From this, it was clear that youth would take initiative and tap into their talents as a source of an alternative option. It was brought to light that there was need to invest into youth in terms of sports, arts and culture despite the already existing structures. The youth agreed that the government, under the ministry of education would admit students into high schools in counties that were not their mother counties or that were not in their area of ethical home. This they said would be in a bid to curb the menace of ethnicity and tribalism starting from changing the minds of the younger generations.

In as much as we all wished we could continue the discussion on arts culture and sports but we had to cut it short as time was not going to wait for any man, not even us. The mic was then handed over to Ms.Dolphine Magero who would engage the psyched up youth on matters of Climate Change. Maybe it was the shock of how young she was or maybe her gender but one thing was undeniable, the amount of content she exuded on climate change one would think that she was UNFCCC’s Ms. Espinosa leading the ongoing COP23 in Bonn, Germany. The youths developed great curiosity and started to ask the right questions like what they could do to help in this era of climate change. This was an indicator of untapped potential and energy that needed to be directed to positive actions that would have an impact on the society. The moderator of the day, Mr. Paul Mutuku had to intervene before the speaker turned the whole session all about Climate Change but one thing was made clear that there was a need for an AYICC-Mombasa chapter in a bid to empower these youths.

To take the audience from Bonn, back to Mombasa the mic had to be given back to Mr. Oindo, who gave an insightful briefing on matters of Governance and Democracy. He would go ahead to encourage the youths of this county to think clearly before taking actions or orders blindly from their political leaders. He would also go ahead to enlighten them on the need for youths to take up leadership positions in their capacity and not let cases such as the 65year old woman in Nyeri who took up a youth position repeat itself ever again. The youth would go ahead to agree that it was not enough for them just to vote for the right people but it was the time that they stood up and vie for positions of leadership in a bid to keep bad leaders away.

The panelist could not be complete without the charismatic Mr. Wentland who took the group through the hot topic of Education and skill development. The topic was crucial and relevant to the audience mainly consisted of University students who happened to be unhappy that they were out of school due to the lecturer’s strike. It was made clear that the youth needed to be involved in policy formation at their institutions and not make policies for them which most of the time they were uncomfortable with. The youth did not forget to mention that they felt the 844 system was feeding them with irrelevant, outdated not to mention non-practical information that was not of benefit to them. The audience could not agree more that the system might have been relevant to the previous generation but had become almost irrelevant in their generation and would become obsolete in the coming generation.

The audience could not seem to get enough of Mr. Arango or maybe it was killing two birds with one stone. It was only but relevant seeing that he had encouraged the young people on tapping into their talents that he be the one to tackle the jargon on Employment and job creation. He encouraged the youth on the need to come up with ideas by themselves on how they could earn an income as opposed to waiting to be employed. He would make it clear that in the ever-changing environment the normal jobs were becoming more and more obsolete especially with the threat of computers taking up a lot of jobs. He encouraged the youths to identify gaps in the society and use that as an opportunity to try fill in those gaps so that they could create employment for themselves. This would be a way for them to become self-reliant.

And finally, the panel discussion would not end without reminding the audience of the first speaker who happened to be given the mic to talk about the matters of peace and security. Given that the country had just come from repeat elections it was only fair that we discuss how to live peacefully with each other as a country. Mr. Oindo would go ahead and point out that lack of employment could be a reason for lack of peace and insecurity in the country. The audience would them suggest that property destruction could be as a result of lack of empathy among the youth for other people’s business given that they do not own any business, therefore, they may not feel bad when they destroy other’s businesses given that they don’t know the number of investments and the risks involved in business. It would boil down again to the issue of justice and fairness in the society that had to be addressed for people to be happy with each other. Political influence would also come up as a reason for lack of peace and security in the country.

Mr. Mutuku would at the end of the panel session take the group through a breakout session, with each group led by one of the panelists of the day, around the six topics and what it is that they wanted to be presented at the upcoming AU-EU summit in Abidjan. Below are the identified gaps, their corresponding recommendations, and the responsible groups to run with the actualization of these recommendations:

Group 1-Education and Skills Development
Gaps	Recommendations	Responsible
Inadequate skills oriented/ talent building education systems	Embark on more skills building and talents from early ages other than theories in schools.	government
Low motivation on entrepreneurship spirit	Carry out campaigns and educative/ enlightening seminars about importance of being an entrepreneur as opposed to waiting for employment	Parents, teachers, society
External/ international exposures	Encourage/ invest/ plan to expose youths globally from high school e.g exchange programs among universities globally	Parents, government institutions
Gender disparities in education	Eliminate it and ensure equal education levels and chances to both genders.	Learning institutions
Group 2- Art, culture, and sport
Gaps	Recommendations	Responsible
Ineffective resource centers	Building and improving service delivery on resource centers
Improving more mentorship programs	Government
Poor leadership	Neutral mediators
Strict laws and adherence
fair distribution of resources	Government
Identity crisis	Nurture our own identity through creative e.g Kenya hood	Youths, ministries of youths and sports, arts in government
Zero Curriculum to support art	Accommodate and integrate curriculum	Education ministry, schools,
Poor mentorship and inadequate motivation	Develop a practical model for inspiring youths and encouraging them to achieve more	Government, civil societies, learning institutions, NGOs
Group 3- Employment and Job creation
Gaps	Recommendations	Responsible
Non-inclusive education	Train/ education youths about job creation through seminars	County governments/ ministry of education, investors
Funds are not easily accessible to the youth. Increased corruption & embezzlement of funds	Fair allocation of funds; remove unnecessary demands
Ensure accountability & transparent among officials	Line officers, county government, youths
Kenyans are job seekers as opposed to job creators	Include entrepreneurial courses/ units in the education sector. It should be integral to the learning process	Ministry of education
Gender biases/ discrimination	Enforce implementation of work ethics	Workers unions
Age limitations; not many youths are able to access such jobs	Create more youth groups to encourage them to attend youth empowerment programs.
Incorporation of learning institutions to create these groups.	Learning institutions, organizations
Group 4- Governance & Democratic inclusion
Gaps	Recommendations	Responsibility
Mentorship programs	Government to come up with a job employment policy	Youths, government
Inadequate exposure	Youth funds to be available students finishing their higher education	County government
Limited experience		youth leaders, parliamentarians
Short internships
Manipulation
Blame game
Group 5- peace and Security
Gaps	Recommendations	Responsible
influence from politicians peers	Political education	Ministry of education
Economic insecurity/ limited employment opportunities	Encourage innovation/ employment opportunities	County governments, youths, organizations
tribalism	Education on tribalism, interaction, intermarriages	Youths, society, government
Social injustices	Strengthen legal framework to avoid bribes	Youths, government`s judicial systems, police
Youth democratic inclusion	Involve youth in policy making county youth forums	Internal security, government`s legislature, learning institutions
Drugs and substance abuse	Education on drug abuse & have a strict government on drug peddlers	County government
Group 6-Climate Change & Environment
Gaps		Recommendations	Responsible
Over-population	Create more awareness on family planning and sustainable living	Ministry of health, youths, learning institutions,
Pollution-exhaust fumes, farm chemicals, polythene bags	Support clean-up programs, innovate on clean energy systems, sanitation programs
Creating green parks, green spaces	NEMA, Kenya forest service, Youths
Forest degradation; deforestation	Participation in Afforestation and a rewards mechanism	Youths, government, Kenya Forest service

Let the team know your opinions on this issue on twitter #investinyouth254 @AYPKenya @ayicckenya @350_kenya @AUEUsummit.

Visit the website at: https://aypkenya.wixsite.com/youth

Report written and compiled by Ms. Dolphine Magero and Mr. Paul  Mutuku