Our Mission
Youth Alive! Kenya (YAK) is a national youth-led non-governmental organization whose mission is to promote the well being and inclusion of young people in development through partnerships, capacity building, and advocacy.
Social well-being and Gender Equity
We promote social wellbeing and equity among young people.
Youth unemployment and lack of opportunities has substantial negative social implications and can lead to health, mental and other challenges that prevent young people from enjoying their rights. Beyond the individual level, it affects the prosperity, stability and equality within a society and the nations sustainable development. This has dis-proportionally affected the different genders. Discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes, widespread discrimination and gender-based inequalities create pervasive obstacles to the realization of girls and young women’s rights.
YAK seeks to influence access to social protection and security; and promote inclusive representation in decision making of young people with regards to their health and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).
What We Do
Good Governance & Human Rights
We promote good governance and effective participation and inclusion of young people.
Governance determines who has power, who makes decisions, how other players make their voices heard and how account is rendered. Good governance articulates key attributes in structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation. YAK governance program ensures that not only is the voice of young people heard but that they are involved in and benefit from all mechanisms, processes and systems that promote good governance at local, national and international levels.
Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods
We enhance the skills and capacities of young people to promote sustainable and decent livelihoods.
YAK recognizes that investing in young people is critical to achieving inclusive, equitable and sustainable development for present and future generations. In this regard, YAK seeks to contribute to the meaningful development of young people by developing evidence-driven, innovative, sustainable and relevant programs that address practical and emerging needs of young people. Specifically, YAK aligns its programming to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and related national, regional and international frameworks, including the Africa Youth Agenda, the Addis-Ababa Action Agenda, the World Programme of Action for Youth and the Continental Strategy on Vocational Education and Training (TVET) among others.
Recent YAK Projects
Women Economic Empowerment and Care project (We-Care)
WE-Care's overall goal is to reignite progress on gender equality by addressing the largest, least-recognized factor preventing women to reach their full potential…
Kisumu ICON - Youth Work Readiness
After several months of hard work conducting research about how to enhance youth work readiness in Kisumu, Kenya; Youth Excel's Issue-Based Collaborative Network…
Strategic Partnership Agreement II(SPAII).
SPA 's overall objective is: "Young people, especially women, and marginalised people enjoy fundamental rights through improved access to well-resourced programmes…
The Challenge Initiative (TCI)
The Challenge Initiative project is implemented in Siaya with an aim of supporting high-impact interventions on increased uptake of Family Planning services and…
High Impact Community Testing for COVID-19 Project
The objective of the project is to rapidly scale-up Community Health Volunteers (CHVs)-led Covid-19 Antigen-detecting Rapid Diagnostic Test (Ag-RDT).
Youth Peace and Security (Jihusishe na Amani)
Jihusishe Na Amani is a 6 month program whose main goal is to promote peace and social cohesion within the hotspot areas of Kisumu and Uasin Gishu Counties in Kenya.…
Successful Projects
Youths Reached
International Partnerships
Awards Won
Stories from partners, volunteers and program beneficiaries
`` I’m impressed by the number of youth who attended today’s forum and wish to encourage you to continue engaging in this manner that is very meaningful. ``
— MCA, Karuri Ward during KII
`` YAK was of great help in sharing information on upcoming public participation schedules through their Trainer of Trainers. I can confidently share that the overall turn-out and meaningful engagement has increased phenomenally. ``
— Director of Public Participation
Latest Articles
WORLD FOREST DAY: Youth for Forests and Health
Young people are critical in the future use and management of trees, woodlots, forests and general local greenspaces and their involvement is pivotal. Firstly, young…
International Women's Day: More Than Just A Symbolic Celebration
While it is important to appreciate the importance of celebrating IWD, it is also critical to understand that real change for women takes ongoing action throughout…
My PARTICIPATE! Story: Winnie Mueni
I really appreciated the different national youth contexts of the countries represented. To my surprise, the youth crisis in Kenya and Zimbabwe was almost the…
My PARTICIPATE! Story: Cwebile Sibanda
The conference was a microcosmic opportunity to interrogate and explore the global village, learning from Denmark and Kenya as a Zimbabwean youth was enlighte…
My PARTICIPATE! Story: Shalin Obinda
We are using the skills acquired from the conference to grow our resilience and utilize every opportunity that we have as a youth-serving organization.
Global Goals Week: We all have a role in enabling women empowerment
Sensitizing the community on cultural progressive practices will enable women to be in advantaged positions, participate in political spaces and actualize their…
Get in Touch
Hits: 51