The Youth Café (TYC) is a trailblazer in youth empowerment in Kenya, utilizing Participatory Budgeting (PB) to drive accountability, transparency, and good governance. Through its innovative PB approach, TYC has successfully mobilized over 76,000 young people across 12 counties, empowering them to take part in crucial budgetary decisions. With a staggering $3 million USD allocated through this process, TYC has set a new standard for how public resources can be managed effectively and ethically when young people are at the helm. This initiative not only empowers youth to influence public resource allocation but also transforms them into vigilant custodians of government accountability, ensuring public funds are directed toward community-driven solutions.
The Youth Café And The Royal Danish Embassy Discussions On Strategic Framework For Youth In Kenya.
The Youth Café recently met officials of the Royal Danish Embassy to discuss possible partnership areas as reflected in the Embassy's new strategic framework for the year 2021 to 2025. The meeting was attended by Embassy representatives including Makena Kirima- Programme Manager who is part of the docket of Access to Justice, Rule of Law and Peace, Security and Stability; Joseph Kimani Njuguna, a Programme Manager in the Democratic Governance department; Laura Balle Svenden, serving as an intern: as well as Richard Wambua and Jossie Nyamai who are part of the Embassy’s Advisory Youth Sounding Board in charge of Climate Action, Environment and Public Budgeting respectively. On the other hand, The Youth Café was represented by Willice Onyango, Maureen Amuhinda, Fredrick Wambua and Tabitha Wangechi.
The Youth Cafe Speaks At International Republican Institute's Participatory Budgeting Workshop
The participatory budgeting workshop on 20th July 2020 was organized by International Republican Institute (IRI) and hosted by People Powered organization. IRI is a non-partisan and non-profit organization based in Washington DC focusing on increasing freedom and participation in policy development. The organization came up with the Generation Democracy network which covers more than 70 countries in helping them understand government and political systems. The mission of People Powered is to expand people’s power to make government decisions, by supporting organizations and governments that are building participatory democracy around the world.