Atenyi said the government was developing the Bill, now in its draft stage, so that issues about the youth can be addressed, more specifically the high unemployment rate in the country.
“We are here to gather views on the Youth Bill 2024 which is a draft. As you all know, it’s a constitutional requirement that we need to subject the bill to public participation,” Atenyi said.
She addressed the press shortly after a youth engagement exercise on the bill in Machakos County on Friday.
Over 600 youth from six counties participated in the exercise. They included Machakos, Kitui, Makueni, Nairobi, Kiambu and Embu.
Atenyi said some of the areas in the bill which the youth had issues with and wanted to be addressed included the proposed Youth Fund.
“The proposed Youth Fund is aimed to be a successor to the Youth Enterprise Fund so that it can be able to provide more services to the youth other than only supporting youth enterprises,” Atenyi said.
Atenyi said they had so far held such forums in Kilifi, Garissa, Machakos and Isiolo for Coastal, North Eastern and Eastern regions respectively.
She told the youth to support the bill for their benefit.
Atenyi said the Bill also seeks to empower youth as well as equip them with skills for employment and self-employment.
She said the exercise ends on December 19, 2024, in Eldoret and Kisumu for Nyanza and Rift Valley regions.
Atenyi said the youth’s views collected during the public participation exercises will be considered in the bill with the intent of addressing youth challenges and better development of the population.
“The bill will come with many goodies. It will address many issues about the youth, not only enterprises but also issues to do with youth researching, talent, innovation, commercialization of those talents and business development services as well.
To us, it’s a blessing to the youth since it encompasses many aspects of youth development apart from only supporting the youth enterprises,” she said.
She said as a state department, they want a legal framework that gives them more powers to be able to develop the youth of this country.
Tuboreshe Pamoja executive director Mary Mutula said the bill was important since it will ensure youth-friendly services to the youth.
“It will ensure that youth-friendly services are well equipped to cater for sexual reproductive health and rights, mental health, as well as any other services that young people can get from there. It will also ensure that young people are mainstreamed in government processes and departments,” Mutula said.
Kennedy Maina said the proactiveness of young people in this country is a resource.
“The Youth Bill 2024 is addressing some of the pertinent issues ranging from how youth can be engaged in youth empowerment centres,” Maina said.
Maina said young people being about 70 per cent in this country, being mainstreamed into entrepreneurship, should be soundly and strongly incorporated in Youth Bill 2024.
“I call upon young people to be
proactive, bring life into the Youth Bill regardless of the outcomes of the
process so that we can benefit from it and assist the government in
establishing an enabling environment for ourselves,” Maina said.
