Youth training and internships in Kenya

Alice Githu is Senior Youth Development Officer at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in Kenya.

Kenya has high unemployment and under-employment, but the jobless rate for youth is much higher than that for adults. For that reason, a pilot project—part of the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project (KYEP)—is under way to address the lack of skills and work experience for unemployed youth (aged 15-29).

At the recent South-South Learning Forum in Hyderabad, India, we spoke with the KYEP’s coordinator, Alice Githu (Senior Youth Development Officer, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports). She says that one key lesson emerging from the pilot is the need to offer life skills training on top of core business skills. Another is the importance of private sector involvement.

This post was first published on the Jobs Knowledge Platform.