Cultivating the Future of Civil Society in Kenya
Young Cities alumni have enhanced and developed two community-based organisations – planting the seeds of sustainable youth engagement in Mombasa, Kenya.
Our support for young people does not stop when their initiatives end. The Young Cities model provides ongoing mentorship and enables further funding for successful projects. Nothing speaks more to this model of sustainable impact than the two local organisations founded by Young Cities alumni in coastal Kenya between 2018 and 2020.
In 2018, Young Cities connected a group of young women in the sub-county of Mvita, Mombasa. They produced the evocative “#WhatIf?” video campaign on how different community members can prevent gang recruitment. In November 2018, the group formally became a part of the Counties Action Network organisation and introduced programming to advance youth civic engagement and civic rights. The team’s leadership earned them a spot on the Young Cities Coaches programme to mentor other young people interested in community cohesion work.
Among those young people was a team of school friends who developed the “Jijulishe Jiwezeshe” project in 2020 with the support of Young Cities. Their project aimed to foster solutions to address youth unemployment. Like the Counties Action Network, the group wanted to further their impact in their community. In November 2020, they decided to formally register as the organisation, “Kigoda Pwani”, which they are now using as a platform to continue their work in addressing youth-related issues in Kenya.