Roddy’s Eco Cover Environmental Project

THEME: Youth Entrepreneurship and Leadership Development Description of the Problem/Challenges Challenges Facing Youth in Kenya: Below are some risk factors that affect entrepreneurship development in particular: Rites of Passage: The absence of rites of passage means that youth are no longer well prepared for adulthood by the traditional means of providing youth with mentors who give them advice to equip them for adulthood; Education: Suitability of education/vocational training for the labor market. There is limited access to secondary schools and alternative forms of education are lacking. There is also a need for life skills training in the education curriculum. At present, students are trained just to pass exams; Inequality/regional disparity: There is inequality in many fields, and often this has a regional aspect. Youth in certain geographical regions are marginalized, with restricted access to opportunities that are available to other young persons. In urban areas, poor youth and those living in slum areas have severely limited access to services and opportunities; Society’s attitude towards youth: Youth face discrimination purely on the grounds of age. This is legitimatized by beliefs such as wisdom only comes with age, and that youth is merely a transition period. Society also perceives youth as irresponsible and troublemakers. This perception may contribute to difficulty in obtaining credit; Expectations of youth: Society’s expectations of young people are not very clear. A gap in expectations has opened between what parents and older generations expect of youth on the one hand, and the expectations of youth themselves (influenced by their peers, and the media, etc.). Society’s expectations of youth may overshadow personal expectations and overwhelm youth. There is also an assumption that white-collar jobs are best and little encouragement is offered to youth to take up blue-collar jobs; Displacement: Especially in slum areas, the demolition of homes has displaced many youths. Others were rendered homeless by the politically inspired ethnic clashes around election time in the 1990s. Homes on proposed road routes, close to power lines and railway tracks are being demolished. The social consequences, both short and long term, of such displacement are severe; Policies: Gaps in, and unsuitability of, existing policy can be cited, along with important problems of implementation. Absence of youth participation in actual decision-making or implementation of policies affecting them was also cited. Youth are merely used as tokens in the policy formulation process; Corruption: Corruption can be cited as one of the major risk factors affecting youth. It results in unequal access to resources. It is especially cited as a problem when youth are trying to establish businesses. Those who lack money to bribe have difficulty in getting assistance to set up their businesses; Transition: Kenya is undergoing transition in many areas and this affects youth particularly. For example, there is a transition from an agrarian to an information based society, yet knowledge is not keeping up with the changes. Changes in social expectations are also resulting in confusion. Children are obliged to take on the roles of adults when households are decimated by HIV/AIDS. The influence and support of the extended family is also declining; Choice of Role Models: Negative role models tend to be elevated. There is a dearth of positive models for leadership roles, exacerbated by the negative and corrupt image of leaders projected by the media. Parents, too, may often present negative role models in alcoholism and violence. The media glorifies negative role models, such as drug barons and advertisements for alcohol glamorize risky behavior.