First Quarterly Report, March 7 - June 30, 2011

Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Rannenberger, at Londiani in Kericho. The meeting was attended by 196 youths from the seven counties where the program will be implemented. Recruitment of key program staff and office set-up is almost complete, with the exception of the program coordinator for Kericho, which has been advertised after the initial candidate turned down the offer. Objective 0 – the formation of structures from the sub-location, constituency, and county levels in Uasin Gishu, West Pokot, Nandi, Trans Nzoia, Kericho, and Nakuru is still ongoing, with emphasis on the sub-location as the unit of empowerment. Building on the USAID-funded LEAP II program, a total of 5,688 youths have been reached. In Uasin Gishu and Nandi counties, the county elections were conducted by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) election officers to ensure that the process was free and fair. Currently, youth bunges are being formed at the sub-location level throughout the program areas. The Nandi elections were covered by local media, which helped raise public awareness of the program. During the mobilization process, the youth have been engaged in discussions on youth empowerment, and they are starting to think of solutions to unemployment and to discuss the reform process in the country. The program has also visited the provincial administration to create linkages between the program and government programs and policies for the youth. Government officials have been invited to attend the functions, which has already started bridging the gap between the youth and the government. Organizational capacity assessments for the local partner organizations were conducted by the Chief of Party and Program Manager between June 24 and 26 using a tool designed by Mercy Corps. A provisional report indicated that all the partners are at the foundational stage of organizational development. The program is in the process of developing a training program to address capacity needs at this stage. It is necessary to build the capacity of all the partners to be able to institutionalize their organizations and strengthen their structures and financial management. Significant progress has been achieved on labor market and value chain assessments. The tools for the labor market survey and life skills assessment were designed, and the youth have been carrying out surveys. In the next three months, the program will continue with the mobilization process, specifically registration of the coalitions formed and strengthening of the sub-location coalition. The program will start implementing civic engagement activities, value chain assessment, and market product assessment alongside identifying the employers who will be willing to offer apprenticeship to the youth and link youths to gain experience and knowledge. Finally, the program will initiate the process for gender assessment and female literacy campaigns. The program implementation has faced a few challenges that have been handled, and some that will continue to be addressed. The perception of the program among politicians and local leaders is the biggest challenge that continues to be addressed. There have also been valuable lessons, especially in youth mobilization, that have set the pace for the next steps in the program. A field visit by USAID's AOTR for YYC Rift Valley to Eldoret in the third week of May revealed that it might be a challenge for Mercy Corps and partners to register all bunges at all five mobilized and elected levels. The AOTR suggested registering the bunges at only two levels: the sub-location level bunges and the county level bunges. The August 2010 constitutional referendum was overwhelmingly successful for Kenya, both in terms of the fairness and transparency of the voting and the lack of violence. This stood in sharp contrast to the aftermath of the 2007 presidential election, when violence rocked the country and exposed the ethnic and tribal tensions that dominate local and national politics. Frighteningly, 80% of those involved in the violence were youth, raising concerns about Kenya's future. Fortunately, last year's referendum showed that Kenyans want to move beyond the 2007 violence and create a peaceful and productive future. While the 2007 violence was widespread, the epicenter was in Kenya's Rift Valley, an area central to Kenya's overall stability. Land encroachment, economic inequities, and divergent cultural values bred an atmosphere of distrust and feelings of victimization among rival tribes. Because tribal identity and loyalty largely trump Kenyan national identity, fellow citizens of different tribal backgrounds are often considered "foreigners" in Rift Valley. Political leaders were able to manipulate these grievances to garner support. While the referendum on the new constitution was peaceful, ethnic divides were evident during the campaign. William Ruto, a Kalenjin MP from the Rift Valley and former Minister of Higher Education, led the charge opposing the constitution and the province, which is largely Kalenjin, voted overwhelmingly against ratification.