The Youth Cafe will be participating in the civil society roundtable for the WYDE Accountability Hubs, which will take place on Wednesday, 22 November, 1:30 PM – 4 PM, at Baraza Media Lab, Nairobi.
The Kofi Annan Foundation is bringing the Women and Youth in Democracy (WYDE) Accountability Hubs to Kenya! The Accountability Hubs is an EU-funded project to strengthen accountable, democratic and transparent leadership and empower young people’s participation in public affairs. Twenty excellent young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa are selected each year for an extensive training and networking programme on financial and political accountability, project management, and ethical leadership.
The Context
As the pressure is mounting on democracy, the rule of law and human rights globally, there is a need to protect and support democracies worldwide. With half of the world’s population aged under 30, the continued support for democracy is highly dependent on the engagement of young people.
However, young people, particularly those from marginalised groups, are systematically underrepresented in public affairs, including in parliaments, political parties and at the ballot boxes. Economic and educational barriers to youth participation are exacerbated by a lack of information about democratic processes and ways of becoming active citizens.
Accountability Hubs
Over the project period of 2022-2026, a total of 40 young leaders experienced in working on accountability and youth empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa will be selected through an open and competitive process. Twenty young leaders will be selected in 2023, and 20 will be selected in 2024.
The young leaders are brought together in ‘Accountability Hubs’ – in French and in English – and will undergo a comprehensive training and mentoring programme consisting of both online and in-person activities.
The participants in the Accountability Hubs will jointly devise an ‘Accountability Toolkit’ to empower young people to take an active and effective part in democratic processes in their communities, aiming to improve democratic processes, accountability, anti-corruption efforts, transparency and youth inclusion.
“Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation”