This was the overarching question that formed an esteemed panel of young leaders, including The Youth Cafe’s Executive Director, at the recently conducted online conference under the theme of COVID-19 & DEMOCRACY IN EAST AFRICA CONFERENCE from 19-20 November 2020. The conference was organized by The Kofi Annan Foundation, in collaboration with the Society for International Development (SID), with the support of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), to host an online conference on exploring the state of democracy in East Africa in the context of the coronavirus pandemic – what challenges is the region facing and what opportunities could be identified particularly when it comes to protecting voters and protecting the vote?
The Youth Café Wins UNESCO Global Prize! | October 2020 Newsletter
The Youth Café is proud to announce that our digital/media information literacy projects with African youth has won FIRST place in the 2020 UNESCO GLOBAL AWARDS. The award cements our goal to become a world leader in Media Information Literacy (MIL) and recognizes our extensive work on digital/media information literacy in the continent.
The Youth Café has over the years undertaken projects and activities to further digital/media information literacy among the youth in Africa. In the recent past, The Youth Café implemented a media project aimed at cultivating youth power to advance media independence. We have trained and mentored a diverse mix of 1243 aspiring young leaders to produce 2378 powerful independent media content published on our "Perspectives" blog which is now on Google News and Apple News listing, thereby reaching over 300,000 readers monthly and helping to moderate contentious discourses about issues affecting the young people in some 22 African countries.
NEW REPORT: Finding Youth Led Solutions To COVID-19, Lockdown Live! | September 2020 Newsletter
Depression, stress and anxiety among the youth are the most common psychological disturbances during this Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by The Youth Café, a Kenyan based Pan-African nonprofit organization. It further states that Covid-19 has created uncertainties about the future amongst the youth. The report is made possible through the partnership of Ford Foundation. Here is the executive summary of findings. For media inquires, contact us. And if you want to be part of our dissemination, here is a customizable toolkit!
The Youth Café with IREX and partners to implement USAID’s Youth Excel! | August 2020 Newsletter
Dear Friend,
I hope you are doing well!
I am pleased to inform you that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has selected The Youth Café, as part of IREX’s consortium of talented global and regional partners, to implement the Youth Power Youth Excel program. This global program will empower young people and youth organizations to drive local development by using implementation research to strengthen local, national, and global development solutions.
Our Plans For 2020 Our International Youth Day | July 2020 Newsletter
Nairobi, Kenya, 31 July 2020: The Youth Café, a non- profit youth organization that fosters community resilience, propose innovative solutions, drive social progress, youth empowerment and inspire political change, has geared up to celebrate International Youth Day; marked globally on 12 August. This announcement comes in light of The Youth Café‘s unwavering commitment to raise awareness about youth challenges.
Find Out Our Role In The Youth Skills Development Arena | July 2020 Newsletter
Our role is to bridge the gap between young people and the labor market. We work with both informal and formal sectors to raise the quantity and quality of career opportunities.
As such, The Youth Café seeks to provide an opportunity to the youth by addressing the lack of relevant work experience, skills, and competencies including behavioral skills needed for employment by engaging training providers and private sector employers to offer training and work experience to targeted youth in the formal and the informal sector.
Our Skills Development Program finds its uniqueness in being incredibly agile and user-centric. We focus our efforts on building holistic, individualized, experiential learning programs that create behavioral change in the long term. In the past two years, we have changed 5,000 lives, impacted over 100 organizations, achieved a 45% referral rate, and reached 22 counties.
Lockdown Live! | Finding Youth-Led Solutions To COVID-19 | The Youth Café | June 2020 Newsletter
‘Lockdown Live’ will bring together members of Sussex Writes at the University of Sussex and members of The Youth Café, to discuss what impact the pandemic has had on learning, mental health and health literacy, use of technology and (dis)information, civic space and participation, safety and protection issues, and the immediate future of the global economy.
We Are Hosting A Facebook Live Event. | May 2020 Newsletter
#DidYouKnow: As part of its response to #COVID-19, @TheYouthCafe is teaming up with @UNFPA and @Prezi to help young people around the world learn about #COVID19? Learn more about how you can keep your friends & families safe: Read our youth policy on Covid-19.
Just Out | The Costs Of Lockdowns In Africa | April 2020 Newsletter
As the fate of the world amidst and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic looms on the horizon, it is becoming rather clear that the notion of the virus as a global pandemic is logistically flawed. A more accurate approach would be to view it as a simultaneous outbreak of innumerable local epidemics, slightly at odds with each other.
Conference Invitation : How Is Africa Responding To Covid-19? | April 2020 Newsletter
How is Africa responding to the threat of Covid-19? Is it realistic for African countries to go on lockdown – or is social distancing an impossible ask? What has been learnt from the responses to past epidemics, particularly Ebola, and what can Africa teach the world through its experiences of public health emergencies? And what are opportunities for all of us, Africans and Europeans, in comparing and combining our approaches to Covid-19?
How To Engage With Youth During And After The Pandemic | April 2020 Newsletter
The unprecedented global health crisis we are facing is affecting all parts of society and changing lives and livelihoods. In all types of crises and times of need, from climate change to armed conflict or political unrest, young people and youth-led organizations have been quick to take action and respond to the needs of others. The same is happening now during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How The Media Literacy Forum Went Down | March 2020 Newsletter
The future is digital. Given the fast paced advancements in media growth, and its globally transformative implications, it is critical that Africa’s youthful generation is well equipped to traverse and take charge of Africa’s media growth. Against this backdrop, On Wednesday 11th March 2020, The Youth Café hosted a ‘Media Literacy Forum’ at The Youth Cafe's offices on Pinetree Plaza, Nairobi-Kenya. The 2 hours’ moderated session sought to impart and empower individuals with the ability to become critical consumers and creators of media. Participants included representatives of Oigara Foundation, SOS Children Village, Conflict Transformation for Development (CTD), DefyHateNow, I Stretch My Hands among others. The forum attracted dozens of young people and interested stakeholders in the fact-checking and media domain.
Innovative Communication Strategies We Shared With Municipalities | March 2020 Newsletter
Be tweenBe tween 3rd and 5th of March 2020, the Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) and The Youth Café met to share innovative communication strategies and dissemination approaches at the Municipal Partnership Programme Dissemination conference. The conference was held at the Gelian Hotel in Machakos, Kenya, and was attended by five municipal partnerships between Sweden, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
What We Discussed With Colleagues At The Kofi Annan Foundation | February 2020 Newsletter
On 20th February 2020, as part of efforts to promote media & information literacy among youth, The Youth Café held a brief consultation meeting with Kofi Annan Foundation at its offices on Pinetree Plaza, Nairobi-Kenya.
The purpose of the engagement was to denote the nexus between the visions trajectories of the two organizations, especially in media. Both organizations believe in the inescapable role of the media in election periods, its observance of human rights, upholding of rule of law and good governance; as well as how the media compliments democracy. But media might also have a derogatory role, if not well harnessed to a good use.
Lessons From Ford Foundation's New Strategy For Eastern Africa | January 2020 Newsletter
The Youth Café, upon invitation, had the opportunity to attend the Ford Foundation Strategy launch, held on 30th January 2020 at Radisson Blu Hotel, Nairobi-Kenya. The theme of the event was, bridging the inequality gap. This event saw convergence of several partners spanning from representatives of civil society and private sector, to government representatives, in order to discuss the widely growing inequality in the society, with a keen focus on the young people. Corruption was explicitly mentioned as a major reason for inequality.