Kenya Advances Youth-Led Peace Agenda With New National Action Plan
The Mt Kenya Times 
Judy Kimaru, Country Director of Search for Common Ground issuing her statement
By: Cynthia Masibo
This week, stakeholders from government agencies, civil society, and youth organizations convened to accelerate the plan’s development, aligning with global frameworks like UN Security Council Resolution 2250.Kenya becomes the seventh African nation to adopt a National Action Plan (NAP) on Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS), a landmark initiative which empowers young people as architects of peace and stability.
The NAP will focus on five pillars: meaningful youth inclusion in decision-making, protection from harm and exploitation, partnerships between youth and institutions, reintegration of conflict-affected youth, and prevention of violence through grassroots engagement. Judy Kimaru, Country Director of Search for Common Ground, underscored the urgency of this initiative, noting Kenya’s youth—its largest demographic—are “essential to national stability and development.”
The plan is being co-developed by the State Department for Youth, National Youth Council, National Cohesion and Integration Commission, and National Youth Service, alongside civil society networks like the Kenya Coalition on Youth, Peace, and Security (KCYPS). KCYPS, an umbrella organization for youth-led groups, has championed inclusive peacebuilding by amplifying diverse voices across ethnicities and regions.
Kenya’s efforts mirror regional progress, such as Nigeria’s pioneering YPS NAP and The Gambia’s 2025–2030 strategy, which prioritizes intergenerational collaboration and grassroots consultations. The East African Community has also urged member states to domesticate YPS frameworks, emphasizing youth-led peace processes.
To ensure broad participation, organizers plan to deploy AI-driven digital tools to gather input from youth nationwide, complementing county-level initiatives like Nairobi’s proposed Youth Bill. This approach reflects lessons from The Gambia’s NAP, which engaged over 2,000 stakeholders, including marginalized groups.
With elections looming, stakeholders aim to finalize the plan within one to two years, ensuring its integration into national, county, and grassroots policies. As Kimaru emphasized, the goal is to shift perceptions of youth from “beneficiaries to contributors” of peace—a vision echoed in the African Union’s Continental Framework, which advocates for youth-centred strategies.
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