1. i. Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Education

Economic development of the Youth has been a primary concern of YUSOM. Youth in Kenya are experiencing much higher unemployment rates than the rest of the Kenyan population. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2009) youths aged 18-24 and 25-30 years had unemployment rates of 28 percent and 27 percent, respectively—about double the overall unemployment of 14.7 percent for the entire working-age group. Somali, Congolese and Sudanese Immigrant Youths in Kenya strive to engage in small businesses to earn a living.

The objective of entrepreneurship and financial literacy education for the Youth is to transform the socioeconomic status of young people in Kenya through business skills training and financial education. The intervention aimed to offer a free financial education and entrepreneurship program targeting 5,000 youth in Kenya by the end of 2014. YUSOM aimed to give beneficiaries a pathway to greater financial access (financial literacy training and access to savings and loans services) as well as providing financial advisory services to help develop, strengthen, and grow participants’ microenterprises. The program that was sponsored by Barclays Bank of Kenya included a 6 week financial training program to empower youth with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they will need to adopt good financial management practices to ultimately transform their lives and livelihoods.

Beneficiaries attending entrepreneurship & financial literacy education-(YUSOM/Kayole Social Hall)

1. ii. Youth Theatre for Peace Project

Garissa County is located in the North Eastern Ken

training programs.

ya about 367 Kilometres from Nairobi-the Capital City of Kenya. It consists of 4 constituencies (Dujis, Lagdera, Fafi and Ijara ) with a population of over 700,000 people.  The region has been plagued with many challenges arising from ethnic clashes, poverty and religious intolerance. YUSOM initiated a project that was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) dubbed ‘Youth Theatre for Peace Project. The initiative was actively working to heal and restore peace and development in Garissa County among the Youth who are the majority in its population. YUSOM, with contributions from various civic and religious organizations and private individuals also worked with at-risk youth to bring focus and hope to their lives, and to get them into school and training programs.

YUSOM ‘Youth Theatre for Peace’ Project in Garrisa-Official Launch (April 2014)

Participants during the ‘Youth Theatre for Peace’ Project in Garissa

1. iii. Youth Participation in Decision Making

YUSOM recognizes that involving youth in a community’s decision-making processes is about more than engaging young people for the sake of inclusivity. It’s about recognizing the measurable benefits youth offer to organizations and whole communities.

Through this programme, YUSOM liaised with the Member of Parliament (M.P-elect) for Kamukunji Constituency in Nairobi to bring on board our members to participate in community development meetings with Kamukunji Constituency Development Fund (CDF) officials.

YUSOM realised that involving youth is a human rights issue! Involving young people fulfils the right to be involved in decision-making and recognizes full citizenship. Engaging youth encourages young people to become active community members who will be more likely to vote and be engaged in the democratic process. Young people are given the opportunity to assume leadership roles and gain skills and practical experience leading to more effective decision-making in the future.

Granting youth control over decisions affecting their lives builds capacity in young people to take ownership for their lives and their communities.

Member of Parliament (M.P) for Kamukunji Constituency, Hon. Yussuf Hassan wearing YUSOM neck scarf.

YUSOM members attending Constituency Development Meeting organised by Kamukunji Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in a Nairobi Hotel

1. iv. One-Day-Make a Difference Project

1. Environmental Day-Garbage Collection

YUSOM formed ‘Green Rescue Team’ as a youth movement to bring about a bottom-to-top change in the peoples’ attitude towards care and protection of our environment. The movement engaged in a day environmental campaign in major public centers (markets). The team together with the community volunteers collected garbage, planted trees and conducted community sensitization on environmental care and protection.

YUSOM-‘Green Rescue Team’ collecting garbage in Eastleigh Market

2. Tobacco Awareness Programme

On October 28^th we conducted an Anti-Smoking/Tobacco Awareness Program at Kayole Youth Polytechnic-in Embakasi District.

The objectives of the program were:

-          To educate/create awareness among technical college students about the risk of tobacco use.

-          To present the ‘prevention is better than cure’ attitude among youth.

-          To create a tobacco free generation of young people who will become YUSOM ambassadors in the campaign against tobacco smoking.

The programme started by a short invigorating video to educate the students on the risks imposed by smoking tobacco. This was followed by a brief talk and a skit performed to make the students understand.

1. v. Youth Leadership Training Program

YUSOM recognizes that leadership is at the centre of recreating the country. Indeed, we believe that leadership is the foundation of every successful democracy. Kenya’s new constitution places premium on the quality of leadership and the need for such leadership to be based on values and ethics. During the period of December 2^nd to 14^th YUSOM engaged in a program aimed at consolidating its work on youth leadership training, mentor-ship and support. The expected result was to: Improved leadership capacity of youth and influence in development processes in Kenya. Not only did the Youth Leadership Training Program focus on personal development and communication skills but the program also modelled individuals to find inner peace and communities to come together in a spirit of service. Participants were inspired to volunteer for rural projects, urban informal settlement projects and to put the fruits of the seeds sown during the training to benefit the community as a whole.

Youth (Beneficiaries) display their certificates awarded during a Youth Leadership Training Programme in Soweto.

YUSOM officials pose for a photo with Beneficiaries of Youth Training Programme organized by YUSOM in December 2014