UNFPA Kenya and UNFPA China offices collaborated on a youth exchange program aimed at strengthening south-south cooperation between Kenya and China on issues affecting young people in both countries. 10 students from China visited various institutions and project sites to learn more about Kenya’s approach to youth empowerment, as well as innovations driving sustainable development for the youth.
The youth delegates were paired with young counterparts from Kenya and divided into three working groups focused on digitalization, sexual and reproductive health, and climate change. This allowed them to brainstorm on the common issues in the two countries and suggest ideas and innovations to address these issues. As part of the exchange mission, the delegation visited Nailab, a Kenyan startup incubator hosting UNFPA-supported start-up Imara TV. This youth-centered digital content platform uses short entertaining films as a vehicle to disseminate sexual and reproductive health information Imara TV was a winner in the UNFPA I.AM Innovation Accelerator Challenge, and received seed funding to conceptualize their ideas and build a sustainable, impactful platform.
The delegation visited the United Nations Environment Program ( UNEP) and United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT) global headquarters in Nairobi. At UNEP, they met with the Deputy Regional Director for Africa Ms. Fatou Ndoye. They learned about innovations built to address various climate issues including deforestation, illegal logging, and the invasive spread of water hyacinth in the water bodies in Kenya. They additionally received capacity building on climate change advocacy on international platforms and learned more about the safe spaces that UN-HABITAT is creating for young people in Nairobi, especially in the informal settlements. Through such programs, UN-HABITAT has been able to promote artistic talent while also creating spaces for young people to interact through sports and conversations.
The delegation also visited the offices of the Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa (NAYA Kenya), a youth-led organization, where they had a dialogue on meaningful youth participation with the UNFPA Youth Advisory Panel and the ICPD Youth coalition members. They later visited SHOFCO Health Centre in Kibera, one of the sites implementing the Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Development Impact Bond (ASRH DIB) program which aims to improve access to sexual and reproductive health and contraception services for young people. Here, they learned about the Tiko platform, an innovative digital solution that connects adolescent girls in low-income settings to free, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services and supplies through their mobile phones.
Moving forward, UNFPA Kenya and UNFPA China will work to support the various ideas and innovations that resulted from the co-creation by the young people from China and Kenya, and further explore future collaborations and partnerships towards addressing challenges faced by the youth in both countries.
