Factors Leading to the Establishment of Youth Empowerment Programs as a Response to Mitigating Youth Unemployment in Kayole, Nairobi County, Kenya

International Journal of Economics and Management Studies

© 2019 by SSRG - IJEMS Journal

Volume 6 Issue 9

Year of Publication : 2019

Authors : Sheila M. Mulinge, Nason Vundi, Emilio Kariuki

10.14445/23939125/IJEMS-V6I9P106

How to Cite?

Sheila M. Mulinge, Nason Vundi, Emilio Kariuki, "Factors Leading to the Establishment of Youth Empowerment Programs as a Response to Mitigating Youth Unemployment in Kayole, Nairobi County, Kenya," SSRG International Journal of Economics and Management Studies, vol. 6,  no. 9, pp. 66-72, 2019. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23939125/IJEMS-V6I9P106

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors leading to the establishment of youth empowerment programs in Kayole, Nairobi County Kenya as an antidote to youth unemployment. The theory of empowerment describes diverse ways of measuring the construct in different contexts thus making the construct multi-disciplinary. Whatever the context chosen, the beginning point is to focus on the process, and the desired outcomes or goals. Overtime, the theme of empowerment has been with us now for about four decades (since the 1980s). Generally, empowerment is about the emancipation of the disadvantaged and vulnerable to regain their rights; obtain access to resources; and to have active participation in the process of decision, power to express and act on one’s desires, and determining social destination. The image of an empowered person:
• Has power to challenge constraints (voice, interests)
• Increased individual capacity and opportunities for access
• Increased solidarity to challenge underlying assumptions
• Increased awareness and desire for change
Despite the rise of youth empowerment programs as a response to mitigate unemployment the number of unemployed youths in Kenya is on the rise. World Bank indicates that youth unemployment in Kenya has averaged 20% in the last ten years, rising from 17.1% in 2011 to 17.4% in 2014. The unemployment situation has worsened by the numerous challenges youth empowerment programs are facing such as the lack of adequate funds to run the programs, corruption and lack of accountability mechanism. Hence, the ineffectiveness of youth empowerment programs leaves the young people exposed to unemployment rendering them waste away their capabilities, resilience, energy, motivation and ideas. In addition, the unemployment situation leads to various challenges among the youth namely hopelessness, stress, dependency syndrome for economic help from parents or the government, delayed entry into the labour force and engaging in vices such as crime in order to sustain their livelihoods.

Keywords:

Youth Empowerment, Unemployment

References:

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