The Commission Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Purity Ngina, paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Council Gloria Wawira for discussions on collaboration to advance youth economic development.
The engagement examined areas of mutual interest, among them access to economic empowerment initiatives, skills development, entrepreneurship, leadership and the meaningful participation of young people in decision-making.
The Commission’s concern in this area is distributional. Article 55 of the Constitution requires the State to take measures, including affirmative action programmes, to ensure that youth have access to relevant education and training, opportunities to associate and to participate in political, social, economic and other spheres of life, and access to employment. Section 8 (d) of the National Gender and Equality Commission Act, 2011 requires the Commission to coordinate and facilitate the mainstreaming of the issues of gender, persons with disability and other marginalised groups in national development.
A youth programme can meet its targets while reaching only those young people already closest to it. Young women, young persons with disabilities, and young people in minority and marginalised communities encounter additional barriers at each stage: awareness that a programme exists, the documentation required to apply, the cost of reaching the point of delivery, and the collateral or credit history that entry conditions frequently assume.
Partnership between the two institutions offers a practical route to examining who existing initiatives reach, and who they do not.
