We held the PARTICIPATE! National conference from 13th to 17th June 2022 bringing together participants from our member organizations from 11 counties. This is the very first activity under our PARTICIPATE! project in partnership with YETT (Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust) from Zimbabwe and DUF (Danish Youth Council) from Denmark.
The PARTICIPATE! International Conference will be held in October and will bring together participants from Members organizations in Kenya (Y.A.K), Zimbabwe (YETT), and Denmark (DUF) to foster cross-country learning, networking, development of partnerships and co-creation of change projects and activities that qualify for funding form the DUFs (Danish Youth Council) international pool.
PARTICIPATE! promotes a democratic civil society where young people act as change agents that take part in decision-making processes and influence politics and developmental efforts.
In this write-up, Winnie Mueni, a participant, reflects on the 3-day event and what she learned.
“The conference impacted me positively as I learned from other groups. I was able to how we would be able to promote cohesion within and across our working groups.
On the first day, Mr Levi took us through sessions which helped us analyse and assess our own organizations. We learnt the importance of having a well-outlined constitution, mission, vision and values within our organizations. This was further emphasized with the PRIMOF, a model to assess the effectiveness of an organization. This was really instrumental for me as I was able to analyze my organization.
The second day was the most interesting because we had a brainstorming session. I was able to realize the different types of partnerships that were at our disposal and the key factors to consider when opting for a partnership. We also held a panel dialogue discussion whereby young leaders from the different organizations shared what they do under the theme of participation.
I was really moved by the story shared by Street Talent Africa as well as I had a chance to explore an idea in Agribusiness value chain addition which was working well for Nairobi county. I considered it an idea to leverage within my organization.
In conclusion, I want to express my appreciation to Youth Alive, YETT and DUF for the support and valuable commitment to the success of the PARTICIPATE! national conference. I also give my shouts outs to fellow participants for showing commitment, zeal and zero prejudice.
If possible, I urge Youth Alive and DUF to enlarge and diversify their work to reach the entire 47 counties of Kenya because they have great and brilliant avenues for the Kenyan Youth. The cake will be sweeter when shared nationally.”
—Winnie Mueni, Dream Achievers Youth Organization, Mombasa Working Group
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