AYICC KENYA

AYICC-Kenya volunteers look into the future-courageously  I am writing this because I know there is a dire need for most of our volunteers to pursue a postgraduate (sometimes even the first degree), get a scholarship or whatever grant it might be. So this is for you. If you would like me to write on something else specific to academic progress, do leave a comment below. And of course additions, and corrections are welcome too! When you are told to write a motivation letter, the selection committee is basically asking you to pitch your dream and make it real so that they can give you the money/opportunity to actualize it . In the first one paragraph, they should (must) know who you are, what your professional goal is, and they must locate your capabilities.  E.g. I am xx years old Kenyan, with a bachelor’s/Msc degree in xx from xx university and applying for this scholarship/degree programme because of my professional interests/experiences in public policy and communit...

Statement by Dr. Joan Clos, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Executive Director of UN-HABITAT on the occasion of International Youth Day 12 August 2011 We mark the annual International Youth Day at a time of sadness for the tragic murders of youth leaders in Norway, but with the hope that more young people around the world will carry the torch for freedom, democracy and good governance. Our young generations are the future, and we need all their vitality, creativity and optimism. In a world where more than half the population lives in towns cities, and where the majority are young people, we need to ensure safe, wealthy, sustainable and well-planned cities for all. And at a time of economic downturn we need to work harder than ever. The impact of the downturn is heavier still on the millions who languish in poverty in slums and inner city neighbourhoods around the world. This means that our cities must be places of opportunities for young people. In e...

The youth from 9 countries along UN Avenue It is a cold Friday morning in Nairobi and over 300 youth are gathered along the United Nations Avenue for a procession and a dance for Climate Justice. The wind blows gently in the morning chilliness then stills at some point. Voices of participants can be heard in whispers then they rise, reaching a crescendo as the crowd of youth swells to capacity. They are from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania and Ethiopia. On their faces is written hope,faith and  an earnest desire to make a difference, this is it!The Occasion: The Launch of the ‘Have Faith-Act Now’ Campaign on August 12, the International Day of Youth. MP Mutava Musyimi with Winnie, Davida & Sylvia Clad in Tshirts written ‘We have Faith: Act Now for Climate Justice’ the procession sets off at about 10.30a.m snaking towards the UN Complex and US Embassy, bringing traffic to a standstill on the busy route. It’s history in the making. Peter ...

Story by: J.F Regis NISENGWE On this Friday July 22 nd, 2011 at 2h: 45, KIST Environmental Conservation Club (KECC) and African Youth Initiative on Climate Change Rwanda (AYICC Rwanda) held a public lecture and open discussion on climate change. The event, supported by both the Head of Department of Chemistry and the Dean of faculty of science, took place at KIST, Muhabura block, room P016. The presenter was Dr. Landry Ndriko MAYIGANE, AYICC (East Africa Cordinator), who was joined in the effort by other special environment activists Shawel MULATU (AYICC Ethiopia), Jordi MUSONI (JVE Rwanda) and Claude and another guest from international student organization, Beatrice ONYANGO (AISEC). It all kicked off with the presentation on “climate change and youth involvement” made by Dr. Landry Driko MAYIGANE, and after we heard from other special guests of the day starting with Shawel MULATU and then Jordi Michel MUSONI. They all emphasized the importance of youth involvement in fighti...

The Kenyan youth under the umbrella of Kenya Climate Youth Network, KYCN have this time made it perfect! For long, we have been undertaking many activities. But the question, "what have you done?" remained almost constant amongst many people. I think this has been the case partly because for a long time, we have been in advocacy which is equally important as it serves to instigate many others to start and run physical activities. Last year, 2010, we as have now become a routine responsibilty of the network; we organized one of the most successful annual national youth conferences on climate change. Unlike the previous ones, this one culminated to another initiative which referred to as “Back to Eden”. In this initiative, we had planned to plant ten thousand trees in Eastern province in partnership with Muli Children’s Family, MCF. Unfortunately, we managed to plant 4500 trees. On Saturday May 28, 2011, Thanks to St Johns Community, four of us had an opportunity to tra...

Its when we receive these kind of emails from young people across the country that we know that we are actually having an impact on the Kenyan youth. Its always our desire to impact on every Kenyan youth so that they can be the leaders who will support this nation deal with the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. As a voluntary youth movement for the past 5 years, this is how we can count our impact, we have invested in a generation, and will continue to invest in this generation and until we see change in our Climate! Thanks you John Joseph for encouraging us to continue being in this movement!

Billion Acts of Green!!! Yes and AYICC Kenya has just been up to that all this year. Tomorrow is just another day, where we shall have another time to add onto our list of Billion Acts of Green as we celebrate the Earth Day. Catch us on Faceboo k for details about the Event. But just to give you a hint about the day: I have just emailed Basco paints requesting for the Eco friendly paints.... please help me to get them to support us tomorrow. We need like 15 spray cans to help us do a graffiti at the YMCA- Our meeting joint in town, next to University of Nairobi, along State House road- probably one day the President will stop to see the graffiti and get to talk to us! :) If we dont get their support, kindly feel free to make a personal contribution. Thanks to all those who have already made the contribution towards the paints!!! Our DJ, Davida, and our Youth Champion from the UN, Kevin,  are organizing for the Book Launch and a Gig at the same venue, same time ( i hope so...

Richard Omondi, in one of the AYICC Kenya meetings The debate on global climate change has changed from better to worse and those championing green economy have received ceremonial embrace for their outstanding scientific contributions. The debate however remains to be as fictional as it was in the early 1990s. Increasingly, it seems like climate change belongs to what philophers call, the limit of science. Inspite of the failure of United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to agree on global climate change on Mitigation and Adaptation frame work at the Copenhagen late last year, many carrier scientists are still hopeful that they will produce a conclusive evidence of global warming which they believe posses worst threat to humanity and other forms of life across the globe. In many African countries, high levels inter-ministerial committees have been formed to develop strategies for combating climate change. Big offices have also been created and None Governmental ...

The Kenya National Youth Climate Network (KYCN) on the 19th of November 2010, made a remarkable statement on Nation Television Network (NTV) breakfast show. Under the theme ‘Vijana going green’, a brief introduction was done to elucidate who the KYCN was made up of and what they have been doing in the past towards the environment. A wake up phone call at 4:30 am was made to the guys who were to make themselves available at Nation Media House at 6:30 am. As the few of the KYCN members tried to beat the heavy traffic in the morning, nearly all of us made it for the breakfast show on time. You could see the enthusiasm that Kito and Maithya had as they went into the news room. It was all written in their faces, “Youths can make a positive change in Kenya if given a chance.” With the first session commencing with heated discussions on why Yatta and no other place for the tree planting, it was evident that Isaiah Kipyegon a representative from the Norwegian Church Aid, had all points in hi...

The Norwegian Church Aid and the Kenya Youth Climate Network (KYCN) in partnership with the Office of the Prime Minister are scheduled to have a tree planting event termed “Back to Eden” to be held on November 20th 2010 at the Mully Children Family (MCF) grounds in Yatta. KYCN is a youth movement comprised of youth organizations and networks, including Kenya Young Greens (KYG), Africa Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC-Kenya), Korogocho Community radio (Koch FM), Kama Si Sisi Artist Group, Young Environmentalists Network in Africa (YENA), the Third Movement, Inter-varsity Environmentalist Network (IVEN), World Youth Alliance (WYA) among others. The youth networks that formed KYCN have for the last five years mobilized, trained and supported youth from all over the country to learn and establish initiatives in their communities that tackle climate change, environment and leadership. So far, there have been three National Youth Conferences on Climate Change (NYCCC) held under...

The 3rd National Youth Conference on Climate Change was a huge success with immense support from the Office of the Prime Minister Kenya, Oxfam GB, the Norwegian Church Aid, the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change Kenya, private sector, civil society organizations, The Parliamentary Committee on Lands and Natural Resources and a large number of youth networks represented from all over the country. The conference attracted a total of 120 participants drawn from most parts of the country who camped from 27th – 30th October at the Multi Media University in Nairobi, Kenya. The participants were representative of the 47 counties of the country, and ensured that there was gender equality. We had the presence of the Mexican Embassy, United Nations Environment Programme and other UN Agencies, International Union for Conservation of Nature , Pan African Climate Justice Alliance , Oxfam GB, Norwegian Church Aid,  Ecological Society of Eastern Africa ...