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The Kenyan youth constitute the majority of the 40 million adding up to 75% of Kenyan po-pulation. It is therefore necessary that youth agendas be given priority as a means of national development. Main issues affecting the youth in Kenya range from unemployment, social vices, access to relevant education and lack of meaningful engagement on issues that affect them. The current eleventh parliament has posed a major milestone for the youth as it is constituted of a higher number of youth legislators in the history of Kenya. This is a ripe op-portunity to have the issues of the Kenyan youth addressed fundamentally even for posterity purposes. However, the youth legislators do not have a platform where they can push their combined efforts to ensure that the youth of Kenya can have their lives enhanced.

The Kenya Young Parliamentarian Association is established as a parliamentary caucus for the Kenyan legislators who fall in the bracket of youth as defined in the new constitution. KYPA’s mission is to build a consultative framework to enhance collaboration between young parliamentarians and the youth constituent that they represent. The Executive commit-tee Members has finalized on a strategic plan that is due for launch in the coming month of March 2014 and therefore is seeking to incorporate the views of the youth in the implementation of the plan.

Objectives:

• To give the youth parliamentarians a platform to develop combined strategies to empower the Kenyan youth population
• To offer a link between youth stakeholders within the country with parliament
• To develop a joint strategy in implementing the KYPA strategic plan
• To create a system where the youth population can access the leadership of the country.
• To establish a consultative platform and approach in addressing youth challenges.
• To enhance youth collaboration and create awareness in decision making processes.
• To develop a research framework on youth issues in a call to pulling together different youth ideologies for a common bargain.

KYPA is seeking to organize workshop for key youth organizations and parliamentarians at a consultative forum to develop and harmonize on the agendas of the KYPA’s meeting that was held on Monday July 29th. The proposed date for the consultative forum is on 3rd March 2014 at the Konrad offices. The workshop brings together 15 youth organizations and 5 members of the National Assembly.

The agenda will include an early morning session on Youth in leadership facilitated by a member of the young Parliamentarians Association. The Late morning session will revolve around brainstorming areas of needs for youth in Kenya and points of collaboration.