1Room
With each subsequent election, the number of voters has been reducing. This does not make sense because the population is growing. Studies show that the youth are getting less interested in exercising their electoral rights let alone offering themselves for the available positions. This has created a lot of gaps in leadership whereby their is the older generation wilding political power and not addressing the youth issues. This in tern has created a situation whereby the youth feel left out and after every election, violence has been witnessed. The perpetrators are mainly the young people. There are two questions our team have looked at: Why is the main demographic group involved in the post election violence the youth and two: Why is this majorly happening in the Western part of Kenya? We are trying to provide civic education among other solutions majorly to the youth to increase their participation in political processes and reduced post electoral violence.
We intend to continue using education technology to spread civic education to the youth, young adults and other groups. The basis of this is the lack of interest in paper based information among the youth and young adults which is our focus. We have and continue updating our digital library with audio visual lessons, trainings and hands on activities. These materials will be uploaded to serves and placed in resource centers' around western Kenya where anyone who has a digital devices could connect and get the information we provide. We also have and will continue engaging local administration structures in the program so as to facilitate workshops and study groups among the community members to come up with local solutions to the perennial political problems.
We are looking to provide this solution the youthful population of ages between 18 and 35. Theis group carries the bulk of the population in Kenya and the same is true for Western Kenya. It is also correct to state that a big chunk of this population doesn't take part in civic activities. Our focus being political activities. We believe that having youthful leaders in political positions will solve the problems of this target population which is the majority group. These problems include unemployment, unconducive business environment, access to credit among others. Wielding civic education and encouraging this population to take part in political activities will empower them to make their decisions and choose the kind of political leadership that will work for them hence reducing civil strive during electoral seasons.
Our team, including our patron is between the ages aforementioned. This means that we are also affected by the same issues and we understand the target population. We are also situated and work within the community we intend to serve. Most of the members of the team have been affected by the same issues in one way or another and this is what brings us together to solve these problems. We have and continue engaging actively with the community to understand their current needs and we believe we are better placed to solve these challenges. We have run pilot phases of the same program, and so far we have had success. We want to expand so as to have a greater impact.
- Provide access to improved civic action learning in a wide range of contexts: with educator support for classroom-based approaches, and community-building opportunities for out of school, community-based approaches.
- Kenya
- Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model that is rolled out in one or more communities
We would like to expand. Currently we do not have enough resources to do so in terms of finances and human resources. We are applying hoping to get a partner who will help navigate the legal and market barriers we are currently facing to expand our program. Financial help will also be a of big help as we are looking to expand. We are looking to get our content approved by the education board within the country so that it can be included in the national education curriculum. This will ensure that the generation coming up will have all the necessary tools to help them navigate the problems we currently have ensuring that this is a permanent solution. Finances will go towards conducting trainings and workshops with the current generation that are facing these challenges. We will have to increase our human resource to ensure effectiveness and efficiency levels are raised.
- Financial (e.g. accounting practices, pitching to investors)
- Human Capital (e.g. sourcing talent, board development)
- Legal or Regulatory Matters
- Product / Service Distribution (e.g. delivery, logistics, expanding client base)
- Technology (e.g. software or hardware, web development/design)