Engaging the youth in Kenya: empowerment, education, and employment

Youth bulges have become a global phenomenon and Kenya is no exception to this trend. In Kenya, the youth bulge presents a number of challenges for both the youth and the country. Youth represent the most abundant asset Kenya has or will have over the near future. Nonetheless, there have been a considerable number of surveys conducted and reports and studies published that invariably conclude that there are persistent risks and challenges faced by Kenyan youth. The youth are, and will remain, a significant share of Kenya's population for the foreseeable future. Developing and implementing appropriate strategies, policies and programmes to mitigate the risks and challenges they (the youth) face must be much more of a priority for the government than it currently is. Any failure to provide appropriate opportunities for this large segment of the population could have enormous economic, political, cultural, and social consequences. Engaging the youth population fully is therefore no longer a choice but an imperative in the development process. This work advocates for, and analytically discusses, strategies for engaging the youth through empowerment, education, and employment.