Youth Take Action on Unemployment Crisis

Unemployment is a global crisis and presents particularly a difficult labor market experience for young people. In Africa especially, unemployment and underemployment remain major obstacles to the full utilization of human resources despite relatively strong growth in the region over the last few years.

Youth in Kenya experience much higher unemployment rates than the rest of the Kenyan population. According to the World Bank, this is estimated to stand at 17.3 % compared to 6 % for both Uganda and Tanzania. 75 % of new post-secondary graduates fail to secure jobs in the highly competitive labor market. Employers cite lack of twenty-first century skills as the main issue. Youth startups and social enterprises can be a tool for empowerment, allowing youth to create jobs as well as solve real social problems within their communities.

Moi Forces Academy is one good example. We’ve been working with the school for a couple of years now through our Character & Creativity (CCI) Initiative and Leadership and Entrepreneurship (LEAP) Hub programs. Many other schools are also part of this.

The Character and Creativity Initiative offers a comprehensive framework of quality education standards that support fundamental competencies in character, creativity, teamwork, purpose and learning which help to develop an all rounded person. On the other hand, LEAP Hubs provides incubator spaces in schools surrounding students with the resources, support and opportunities they need to confidently launch their own creative businesses and social enterprises.

Students work in teams of fours and fives. Daniel Kihanya, is one a student from Moi Forces Academy who leads his team of four fellow students through an innovation dabbed “Blue Drive.” The idea was brought forth by their dream to transform the mode of data transfer. It entails a small electronic device that works as a flash drive. It can be used to store or transfer data from one digital device to the other using bluetooth technology. This is an improvement of the traditional flash drive. They have already developed two prototypes and are now working on a third one.

This year on 12^th March, the team took part in the Diamond Trust Challenge at Alliance High School that involved presentations of various innovations from different schools in Kenya. The innovation emerged 2^nd and the group was selected to represent the country in the US at the University of Delwa.

As featured on BBC World News, Africa on 3 October, 2016, 17 year old Caroline Wambui, a fourth form Leap Hubs student at Embakasi Girls High School had come up with an idea to connect organ donors, patients and hospitals. Her main aim was to save lives out of a personal experience.

"My uncle died due to lack of a kidney match, it took a long time to find a donor on the black market, it was a tragedy for us, and didn't want another family to go through the same," said Wambui.

The app would allow you to know if you are eligible to donate an organ and to check the medical requirements of the patient in need. She is waiting to see if a law will be passed to make it legal for people to donate organs after their death.

Currently, illegal organ sale cartels are thriving - it is a lucrative business where willing sellers are operated on in back-street dispensaries. If the legal issues are resolved, Ms Wambui could make the biggest impact - meaning other girls like her do not lose their relatives.

To read the full story Please follow the link below.

Kenyan girls who code: Mentors spur African tech innovations

Global Peace Foundation has partnered with corporates among them Intel, Airtel, Chandaria Foundation, Google and other stakeholders to ensure students graduate with skills that would help them thrive in the current world.