The government has embarked on developing the Kenya Youth Development Index to assess youth engagement in society.
The critical tool will measure the performance of youth empowerment programmes in comparison to development initiatives implemented by the government and other stakeholders.
Youth Affairs CAS Wycliffe Ogallo in a speech on behalf of the department's Principal Secretary Charles Sunkuli said, “The KYDI will collect and analyse critical data on young people to guide the youth in the development of policies and project."
"By measuring their contributions and needs with hard data, we can increase the youth impact and benefits to contributing to a better future for all," he said.
The PS said the index would adhere to the global measure of young people’s progress in five areas.
They include youth’s participation in peace processes and their education, employment, inclusion and healthcare.
He said this will allow users to gain a better understanding of youth development in a snapshot and making it a tool and resource designed to assist policymakers.
Sunkuli further said the exercise was crucial because youth make up a sizeable proportion of the population.
The country’s youth population is currently at 14 million, accounting for 75 per cent of the total population.
“KYDI will also be used to help the government and other policymakers decide on how to allocate scarce resources among the youth and other objectives,” he said.
"The Kenya Youth Development Policy, 2019, states unequivocally that evidence-based programming must take centre stage if we are to make meaningful inroads into youth development.”
The PS also noted that youth development is currently focused on education, culture, health, work, poverty, citizenship, and identity.
He said the youth have emerged as a population group that is particularly socio-economically vulnerable.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
