A Multi-Stakeholder Roundtable Discussion by Young Urban Women Network held at Heron Portico Hotel in Nairobi on March 20, 2025.A section of members from the Young Urban Women Network has urged the government to prioritise addressing a range of issues facing the urban youth and especially the young urban women living in informal settlements.
Speaking during a Multi-stakeholder Roundtable Discussion in Nairobi planned by Africa Youth Trust (AYT) in partnership with ActionAid Kenya, the network group, along with a number of city county officials from Nairobi and Mombasa, held talks on matters that required policy interventions to address challenges facing the youth and women.
The Young Urban Women Network issued a charter of demands to address concerns surrounding economic empowerment, sanitation, security and social justice.
The charter outlined demands for youth rehabilitation, economic inclusion, gender responsive policies and improved infrastructure.
One of the members from the network pointed out that some of these issues were systemic-based societal issues which have persisted for a long time affecting young people and women for a long time.
“One of the problems we face as a society is a very individualistic system but that is not how a society should be. Many people know what your problems are but cannot help you,” she said.
Other members voiced their frustration over the deep-rooted issues regarding failure to comply with the labor laws after recruitment of young women in the realm of unemployment across the country.
“Employers often take advantage of their employees where they fail to comply with the labor laws outlined in the Employment Act. We have seen situations where employers subject employees to mutual contracts which they fail to sign and thereafter subjecting them to poor working conditions,” another member said.
“Young women end up doing hazardous work and are left reeling from unfair wages which is against the labor laws.”
They urged for policy reforms to be reinforced to address the underlying issues.
For the youth living in Mombasa City, they called for the establishment of more vocational and training centers to improve their accessibility for them to acquire practical skills.
“We further appeal for more fair employment opportunities for the youth and women in employment programs such as Kazi Mtaani, Climate Works and Mombasa Yangu and for the Government to build more rehabilitation centers who are vulnerable to drug and substance abuse,” the charter read.
In Nairobi County, the group pointed out that those living in informal settlements often faced challenges raging from unclean water, proper drainages, insecurity challenges and inadequate public toilets in settlements of Mukuru and Majengo.
“We call upon the government to improve road networks and sanitation services. Installation of street lights will help reduce crime,” the charter read.
“Working mothers, on their part, often struggle to find affordable childcare limiting their ability to work and therefore the Government should subsidize the childcare facilities for working mothers.”
The group further called for more representation of young women, policy inclusion and enhancing legal protection against femicide and violence against women.
“We need immediate investigation and prosecution of femicide cases with legal penalties, creation of a Gender Based Violence unit by Nairobi County Government and increasing the fund for GBV shelters to provide safe spaces for survivors,” said the Charter of Demand.
Judy Oduor from ActionAid highlighted on the challenges young urban women were facing citing issues surrounding gender gaps, insufficient labor protection laws especially on Export Processing Zones (EPZs) and health concerns.
“Many women in low-income households are disproportionately affected by consumption taxes (VAT) which have doubled over the last 20 years worsening economic inequalities,” Judy said.
“With them having to grapple with unaffordable maternal healthcare, lower wages among other challenges, this becomes very hard for them.”
The discussions were also graced by a number of government officials from Nairobi County who committed to addressing their grievances even as they denounced social and legal setbacks they sometimes face.
“We remain committed to addressing these issues and have made strides. We have had situations where ethical gender violations were made mostly targeting women and taken action by convicting those involved,” Nairobi City County, Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordinator Roselyn Mukabana stated.
“We will continue with this engagements to advocate for more policy inclusion and reforms.”
