I consider myself privileged to have worked with and led young people in my close to two decades career in sustainability. I have seen young Community Health Promoters doing their best to improve health outcomes, youth-led groups striving to address unemployment through their skills, and youthful managers redefining waste management. I have seen the youth propelling action towards enabling the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This demographic not only brings brilliant ideas to the table, but they also act. They are not afraid to try new things and leverage digital skills to solve real-life problems. Their daily action depicts how we are all adopting sustainability in our daily lives. However, their action alone is not enough to counterbalance the broader global crisis.
2030 is fast approaching, and the world is still far from achieving the SDGs. According to the UN’s 2024 assessment on SDGs, only 17% of SDG targets are on track. Nearly half (48%) are making relatively low or moderate growth, while more than a third (35%) have stagnated or declined.
Yes, these facts are sobering and make us realise just how all-hands-on-deck we need to be.
During last year’s COP, one of my key highlights was the number of youth who attended the different sessions, asking the hard questions and holding leaders and governments accountable. This is nothing new; youth have been upsetting the status quo. Unfortunately, many are doing this without the support, resources, and or mentorship they deserve. And for this, the world is missing out on a grand opportunity to work with young people.
We need to shift the mentality of youth as benefactors to seeing them as partners in achieving the SDGs.
What does this look like?
- Authentic and intentional mentorship- It is not just the occasional check-ins but telling the truth to young innovators and creating long-term investments in them. Mentoring that expands opportunities, builds capacity, and sustains leadership.
- Giving them access to decision-making spaces- Young people should be included at all levels of decision-making, not just at side events or focus groups.
- Investing in youthful innovation- Not only do we need to trust the youth with ideas, but also with budgets. We can invest millions in infrastructure to support the next generation of problem solvers.
At the Safaricom and M-Pesa Foundations, we are doing our bit in supporting youth across the country to scale their work. For instance, we have worked with Umoja Mazeras Baraka Juu Self-help group in Taita Taveta County to provide an electric carwash machine that has enabled them to generate more revenue. Previously, the groups would use a diesel-powered machine that would stall every time it ran out of diesel. This negatively impacted on their revenue generation.
Another example of a youth group we have worked with is the Mwengenye Youth CBO in Nairobi County. We supported this youth group with an organic waste shredder and waster dryer. Previously, it would take up to 15 days for them to decompose waste to manure. This meant they could only decompose 300kg of organic waste per month. With the organic waste shredder, the amount of time used to decompose waste to manure has reduced by 50% and the amount of organic waste they are able to decompose increased to 900kg per month.
In addition, under Safaricom Foundation, we have an ongoing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) scholarship program known as Wezesha Vijana. This is a partnership with Catholic Relief Services that aims to empower vulnerable youth in Kenya with the skills and opportunities necessary to secure sustainable employment.
These are a few examples of what we are doing to empower youth.
The youth are living the SDGs daily and enabling them to scale their efforts will be fulfilling this year’s International Youth Day theme, “Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond”.
On this International Youth Day, what are you, as a field expert or corporate, doing to enable local youth action? I would like to know your thoughts.
Karen Basiye – Director, Sustainable Business and Social Impact at Safaricom