The Youth Café Speaks At The 7th Annual Devolution Conference | Prevention And Management Of Conflict Breakaway Session

The Youth Café was honored to be invited to attend and speak as a panelist at the 7th annual Devolution Conference held from 23rd to 26th November, 2021 in Makueni County. The Executive Director of The Youth Café, Willice Onyango spoke at the Prevention and management of conflict breakaway session whose theme was “Prevention and Management of Climate Change Instigated Conflicts: Collaborative Responses”.

He shared his opinion on the question; The youth can either act as peace brokers or peace breakers. How can the youth contribute towards prevention and management of climate change instigated conflicts?

This was his response:

“Good Afternoon, my name is Willice Onyango and I am the Executive Director of The Youth Café. It is truly an honor to be a part of such an esteemed panel and I am grateful for the opportunity to share my views on how youth can contribute towards preventing and managing climate change instigated conflicts.

I speak to you today as a youth and as part of a youth-led and youth-serving organization working directly and closely with young people in Kenya and around Africa to advance youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience, and transformative change. Our projects are centered around youth empowerment and development because we believe in the scale of impact youth can make given the right guidance and opportunities. If it is for the youth it should be by the youth guided by adult stakeholders. 

Now, let me first point out that we acknowledge that some young men and women in Kenya do participate in violence and conflict. However, recent studies as well as our experiences have shown that youth either independently or in collaboration with other stakeholders play a critical role in conflict prevention, reconciliation and peacebuilding in Kenya.

The Kenya National Youth Policy developed in 2006 frames youth as being “at risk” and in need of “management”, thereby limiting their participation and agency. As a result, youth resort to violent measures to voice their opinions and make an impact, regardless of whether their actions have negative repercussions. We believe that the youth in Kenya and Africa have incredible potential, which if nurtured properly can yield remarkable results. Hence, I would like to emphasize that not all youth respond to the threat or actual violence with counter violence and to affirm that the majority of youth in Kenya are peaceful and non-violent in nature.

Secondly, I would like to point out that climate change does not directly cause armed conflict, but it may indirectly increase the risk of conflict by exacerbating existing social, economic and environmental factors. As the largest economy in East Africa, Kenya is particularly vulnerable to climate variability due to its industries of tourism and agriculture being a dominant economic force in the country and region, employing more than 3 million people in tourism and tea farming alone. Furthermore, Kenya is already at risk for flooding, with more than 5,000 people displaced in the Rift Valley floods that affected more than 22,000 acres just last year. 

At the end of last year, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reported more than 394,000 internally displaced people in Kenya. Kenya already hosts over 500,000 refugees, predominantly people who fled violent extremism in Somalia, and faces other issues, such as limited resources and high rates of violence against women. Keeping these figures in mind, we can conclude that the climate crisis can have catastrophic consequences to peace and security in the country.

Furthermore, Kenya is a fragile state. Although Fund For Peace’s Fragile States Index notes that Kenya’s fragility score has decreased, it still ranks as the 32nd most fragile state, due largely to ethnic conflict and demographic pressures. 

As climate change worsens, these problems will only increase. The impending crisis in Kenya is only one case study for the dire situations that threaten the global community due to climate change. However, there are several steps that we can take to alleviate the situation, and Kenya happens to be the perfect demonstration of this.

Undoubtedly, there is a need to generate a culture of peace and conflict free environment, particularly among the youth. The youth are key agents of peacebuilding, especially those who have experienced conflict firsthand. These young people have key roles to play in peace processes since they have a clear vision of what peace could look like in their countries and communities and have the drive to work towards the realization of these goals.

The past few years have been challenging for everyone. The pandemic we are currently living through brought with it hurdles that we have never experienced before as well as aggravated the already existing ones. However, amidst such challenges, we have witnessed that young people are able to play active roles at the grassroots and local levels, as peacemakers, mediators and peacebuilders.

Arguably it is essential to let young people be the actors of development of their country, it is their future for which we work. The Kenyan Ministry of Environment and Forestry states that “The youth are the backbone of the nation and can change the future of the society with their well-being and courageous behavior”. It is important to keep in mind that getting young people to acknowledge that even little acts can make a difference. Move away from the narrative that “there is nothing I can do to save the planet”. 

While a youthful population is traditionally seen as a dangerous sign of instability, Kenya’s youth population should be viewed as an asset. In many of the countries worldwide that face armed conflict or violence, youth are at the forefront of building sustainable peace.

So our recommendations on strategies that can be adopted by state and non-state actors to mitigate and manage conflicts arising from climate change impacts include the drafting of a formal youth, peace, and security strategy to support youth peacebuilding. This would teach young leaders around the world to prioritize principles of nonviolence, inclusivity, and democracy as they decide what their communities will look like in the future. The Kenyan government partnering with the African Union and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has already taken steps to promote this strategy in the region through various actions such as the conference on Youth Peace and Security hosted earlier this month.

Moreover, an integrated youth and peacebuilding strategy reduces the impact of ethnic and political conflict. According to Mercy Corps, peacebuilding and education programs in Somalia funded by USAID contributed to a 48% decrease in support for political violence among youth in the program. Scaling these programs up is necessary to meet the needs of youth globally in the context of climate change.

Additionally, it is important to acknowledge that gender disparities in Kenya are exacerbated by climate change. However, we have seen that Kenya has also made significant strides in gender equality, even as it relates to climate change. Climate change is upending traditional gender roles and helping usher a cultural shift that has empowered women to participate in the workforce. It is vital that Kenyan programs continue allocating funding specifically for women to contribute to climate change response efforts, especially due to their unique relationship to land and agriculture. 

Another key strategy is to integrate peace and security building programmes in climate action policies as well as formulate effective plans to curb economic strains on the country due to limited resources as a result of the increase in refugees and displaced people. There is also a need to increase access to information on how small acts done collectively can really help in Climate action. There are many examples to give, we already know information is power, inculcating environmental and climate change awareness into school curriculum is an important first step, furthermore eating sustainably, re-use, reduce, recycle etc.

In order for youth to harness their full potential and act as peace brokers, they will need support from the county and national governments, as well as other stakeholders. This is why the Annual Devolution conference is an important event as it provides a platform through which all stakeholders in the devolution space evaluate the performance of both levels of governments on matters of policy, legislation, accountability, good governance, and service delivery among others.

Finally, at TYC we recognize that to permit ignorance is to empower it and that action is the only remedy to indifference. Kenya is on the precipice of leading international peace and security efforts through climate change prevention and response, and should do so by flipping the script to harness the unique opportunities that youth present and empower marginalized groups to take center stage in helping create a more peaceful and sustainable world. 

The future of Africa and the world is now in the hands of the youth. Our core belief is that young people can transform the planet as actors in achieving sustainable development. We need to give youth a seat at the decision making table and to take their opinions into account. We must break the vicious cycle of corruption and increase the power of the people to keep check on the people in power. By showing them that their voice matters, we will be empowering them to take action. We the youth are not only the authors of the future but the architects of the present."

Do you want to learn more about the work we do at The Youth Café? Feel free to contact us or let us know what you think. We look forward to hearing from you!