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Imara Africa Fellowship

Our Impact

  1. Capacity Building

The project continues to register progress in building the capacity of the youth in two levels. Level one being the Imara Fellows who were recruited to be trained in policy making process in partnership with the county government in various fields of their interest and careers and level two being capacity improvement among the community youth who were the local partners during the implementation.

Our fellows have advanced in their careers and studies in policy and governance. Notable examples include Ms. Gladys Ndanu, promoted for her role in Universal Health Care in Muranga County, influenced by a youth baraza panel discussion. Mr. Shadrack Osero earned a DAAD Helmut Schmidt Program scholarship for a Master’s in Public Management at the University of Potsdam, based on work addressing TVET policy gaps in Kericho. Additionally, Mr. Mathew Ndolo and Ms. Ivy Wandia Gathoni pursued policy studies at UC Berkeley and the Geneva Graduate Institute.

  1. Partnership

The implementation of this work has seen the project establish a firm partnership with the County Governments of Kisumu, Busia and other local partners including Jiwo Paro, Kondele Social Justice Centre & TEAM-Transform Empowerment for Action initiative, (Kisumu), Busia Youth Steering Committee (Busia), and Kericho Youth Network.

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The project was also able to develop partnerships with different Youth Serving Organizations. For instance PAWA 254 and WOSWA collaboratively hosted the leadership cafes and the First Youth Baraza respectively in addition to mobilization of the youth and key stakeholders during these activities.

  1. Developing Policy Recommendations

The project addressed key county policy issues and co-created actionable solutions. In Kericho, a report led to recommendations for hiring more instructors in Technical Vocational and Educational Training Centers. In Kisumu, engagements identified youth income sources like betting and adult content creation, resulting in recommendations for entrepreneurial training, now implemented by Jiwo Paro. These efforts established a baseline for policy formulation.

Imara Fellowship Africa Developing Policy Recommendations Image

The policy document’s infographics were based on insights from government representatives who contributed to its finalization. Key departments, including the Youth Office, Education and ICT, and Industrialization & Enterprise Development, supported data collection. Despite challenges like slow progress and political stand-offs, the Busia steering committee’s efforts led to the assembly tabling a youth internship policy motion on August 6, 2019.