Correction on the National Youth Council Elections

Dear Friends,

We all know that that there are anomalies in the process that is to set up the National Youth Council. HOWEVER, Kindly note that there were NO PLANNED or EVEN PERCEIVED ELECTIONS in the month of August.

We have reliable information that the Ministry is currently in the process of disseminating information about the Council. Information received from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has plans for the Elections of the National Youth Council scheduled to take place from sub-locational level up to the National level given the guidelines as provided for in the Act. The Schedule will be made public in accordance to the guidelines and will be done by the Minister of Youth in the next couple of day.

We will publish that schedule here on the platform and do all we can to ensure all the youth networks across Kenya have access to the same information to massively mobilize the young people from all walks of life to come out in large numbers and shape the way the elections will be conducted and make sure we get the right people on the youth council positions.

We will also help in the sensitization process so that as many youth as possible are able to understand the provisions of the National Youth Council Act of Parliament and the procedures that come with the conduction of the elections of the council.

We have the responsibility of collecting and collating the right information and ensuring that every person under the age of 35 gets the  accurate information to the people.

Because it is the lack of information that has made many people in Kenya to lack the will to participate in public processes, the Youth Act being our only document that is to protect the development of the youth in Kenya must be made public and we will play that role of disseminating its information as a civic duty.

We will make the schedule of the Elections of the NYC available to all so that we can take advantage of the process.

Best regards,

Emmanuel Dennis

YES Kenya Leader
Initiator of the Green Teams Initiative
P.O. Box 8799, 00200
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +46706048398
http://emmanuel-ed.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Emmanueldennis
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=397764087384#!/group.php?gid=124947050868208&v=info&ref=ts

Youth Agenda Statement on Kenya’s Ministry Of Youth Affairs ’s plan to hold sham elections for the National Youth Council Officials

In December 2009, President Mwai Kibaki assented to the enactment of the National Youth Council Act which was subsequently gazetted in January 2010.

This Act will bring in force a powerful body known as the Kenya National Youth Council whose mandate will be to co-ordinate all youth organisations, design and continuously review the National Youth Policy and develop an “integrated National Youth Development Plan” in collaboration with the Ministry responsible for Youth Affairs. The Council will also act as an advisory, research and policy institution on youth affairs in the country. In essence the council shall be the Advocate, Connector and Enabler for young people in Kenya.

As it stands today, the National Youth Council has not been established. The Youth Agenda and other stakeholders has been at the forefront in advocating for a responsive Youth Council, we have also been vigilant in trying to ensure involvement, participation and representation of the youth constituency in the formation of the National Youth Council.

In pursuance of this, we have sent numerous communiqué to the Ministry of Youth Affairs seeking to promote youth participation in this process including a memorandum prescribing the manner in which the Youth Consortium wanted the election of the NYC officials conducted.    To date, the Ministry has silent on the matter and at times evasive while operating exclusive of the youth constituents the ministry is supposed to serve.

It has now come to our attention that the Ministry of Youth Affairs is planning to hold elections of the Youth Council on Wednesday 11th August from 10am. It is on this premise that we would like to raise the following:-

Our Concerns

1)      That, a majority of the Youth are not aware of the upcoming elections

2)      That, The elections might be used to rubber stamp a preselected committee

3)      If the elections are not held in a transparent and participatory manner, the Council will not have the legitimacy it needs in order to have impact and achieve its goals

Our Submission

In the spirit of transparency, openness and inclusivity we recommend the following to the ministry;

1.      That, the process be opened up at all levels for all the youth of this country

2.      That, based on the memorandum (dated 2nd June 2010) submitted to the Ministry of Youth Affairs by the youth consortium, the ministry must engage other stakeholders in the election process.

3.      That, if the National youth Council is to be responsive to and owned by the young men and women of the new Kenya, then the Ministry must involve the youth of this country in the process of establishing this council.

Seeing as this has not been done, we read malice into the ministry’s actions which are in bad taste. The ministry must and should remain accountable to its constituents and as such it should be prepared to face the backlash of stage-managed elections. These elections must be postponed to allow for awareness and participation of all the youth in this country.

Conclusion

It is our hope that the National Youth Council will have an active youth force serving in it; will be representative of all Kenyan youth including women, persons with disability as well as minorities groups; and that the appointing process will be transparent, fair and democratic.

Yours Sincerely,

Susan Kariuki
Act. Executive Director
The Youth Agenda YAA

Youth AfriCamp: Building expressive advocacy capacity for youth participation

Themes: Youth and New Media; African Youth Charter and African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

Open Society Institute, Youth Initiative seeks to empower youth to become active citizens who are willing and able to influence public life and promote open society ideals. The international initiative is an expansion of what began in 1995 as the Debate Program. While its work with debate continues, the initiative also provides small grants and technical assistance to build the capacity of youth-focused local organizations and encourage a broader range of youth-led projects that promote open society values. The Youth Initiative (YI) aims to build a community of networked, civically engaged young leaders who understand the underpinnings of a democratic society, and will therefore become its active guardians.- www.soros.org/youth

The Youth AfriCamp provides a forum that allows the participating youth to showcase their work in their respective regions.  In addition, the camp includes training segments that will allow youth to acquire skills in creative social messaging techniques that they can apply to their work. The YI sees added value in convening the AfriCamp to not only act as facilitator and sponsor, but most importantly, to raise the profile of the work young people are doing under challenging conditions.

The AfriCamp will bring young activists together so that they can learn from one another while we learn from them. It is integral for the YI to identify these local actors and collect this information to inform the OSI network. It will allow young activists to gain hands-on training in new media that could be translated to their advocacy efforts in their given fields. The participants will be recruited across the sub-Sahara Africa with ages ranging from 18-29 years.

Format

The AfriCamp will accommodate both Francophone and Anglophone participants.  The selection process will be competitive ensuring high caliber participants. The format includes a week long combination of presentations, training sessions and breakaway sessions for direct peer consultation for those working on similar issues or issues of interest. Training sessions will consist of outside facilitators procured by the YI as well as peer to peer trainings. The event will culminate with an afternoon long advocacy concert featuring local artists. The Youth Initiative has developed the following general themes for the Youth Camp: Youth and New Media, Youth and the Africa Youth Charter, Youth and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

To register, fill in an application form online: http://www.idebate.org/africamp/ and for any inquiries please contact Ronald on email:  rrwankangi@osiea.org.

Application deadline 5^th March 2010.