Youth champions engage stakeholders at development conference

Five adolescent advocacy champions from Kwale and West Pokot counties attended the Kenya Population and Development Conference (KPDC) 2025, held at the University of Nairobi.

Under the theme “Navigating the Future: Population Dynamics and Sustainable Development in Kenya, the conference provided an important forum for stakeholders to engage on the intersection between population dynamics and sustainable development, and explore policies and strategies that promote youth empowerment, gender equality, and reproductive health, including family planning.

The conference also sought to highlight the role of young people in shaping sustainable development policies and advocate for their increased participation in decision-making processes, and to create an inclusive space for dialogue and collaboration between youth, policymakers, researchers, and civil society organizations’.

With support from the Youth for Health Project Co- funded by the European Union, the adolescents were able to interact with various stakeholders to promote prioritization of youth in development.

The conference underscored the pivotal role of young people in driving development and called for their intentional inclusion.

Key priorities included:

The expansion of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs to give young people practical skills for employment and to strengthen public-private partnerships to create more job opportunities.

Strengthening of school health programs to address student mental and reproductive health.

Establishment of digital innovation hubs to support young entrepreneurs, and address school absenteeism in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands by improving education access and infrastructure.

Address gender inequality in the workforce for young women and reduce gender disparities in employment.

Expand access to mental health services and normalise open conversations to reduce stigma and improve wellbeing.

Normalisation of discussions on SRHR to combat misinformation, reduce unintended pregnancies, and protect young people from harm , and provision of non-judgmental, youth-friendly care free from stigma.

Enforcement of stronger prevention and response mechanisms to GBV, particularly addressing the surge in technology-facilitated abuse such as cyberbullying and online harassment.