Youth for Sustainable Development (YSD) is a youth-led network, made up of ICS alumni and community volunteers in Kenya. Read about how YSD is supporting local communities and making the world a fairer place.
Founded in 2017, the network has grown rapidly – now covering ten counties and functioning as a major actor in youth matters.
The network’s vision is a society in which young people feel the urgency to shape their lives and that of wider society, and are empowered to act. They want to break the cycle, where young people and other marginalized groups are excluded from decision-making and discussion, and they’ve risen impressively to the challenges of the global pandemic.
Reaching an estimated 1.5 million people with coronavirus advice
“To ‘flatten the curve’ of the outbreak right now, information is our strongest weapon,” said former ICS Team Leader, Shila Salim, 30. “People here are oblivious to the danger of coronavirus. We need to step up sensitization to communities all over Kenya, as it is the poorest who are most at risk”.
Through a series of talk shows at local Nairobi radio stations, Pamoja FM and Mtaani FM, YSD Kenya raised awareness of COVID-19 and how to stay safe during the pandemic. Their messages reached an estimated 1.5 million of Nairobi’s informal and middle-class residents.
Prioritizing girls’ education
Teenage pregnancies rose at an alarming rate during lockdown in 2020. This motivated YSD network members to step up, supporting girls to stay in education.
In the county of Machakos, the network has been working with community volunteers to conduct needs assessments and plan sexual and reproductive health sessions to deliver to teenage girls. In Makueni, they delivered skills-based training in bead and soap making for girls already out of the education system.
Recognising the need to enable women not just to work, but to achieve economic autonomy, YSD network members are also providing training on money management and saving, encouraging teenage girls and women locked out of education to reclaim their power and voice.