Third Quarterly Report, October 1 to December 31, 2011

(YYC) program in Kenya's Rift Valley, Western, Coast, Nyanza, Nairobi, and Central Provinces aims to strengthen the capabilities of youth organizations to be agents of positive change in their communities. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the program seeks to empower young people and grassroots youth organizations through an integrated approach that includes community mobilization, civic engagement, and economic development. The program has four objectives: mobilize youth into village Bunges, support youth to exercise a greater voice in local and national affairs, increase youth productivity, employment opportunities, and income, and increase young women's access to social, political, and economic opportunities. Kiambu and Murang'a counties consist of 1,882 and 1,462 villages, respectively, with a target of forming 2,000 village Bunges, of which 811 are currently in place. During the third quarter of 2011, Mercy Corps directly reached a total of 11,209 youth through YYC-C activities, and a further 35,000 more 'at risk' youths were reached indirectly through barazas, outreach campaigns, sports tournaments, and other youth activities, bringing the total number of youths reached to 46,209. From the cumulative 188,409 youth reached, 21,100 have joined 811 Village Bunges. The registration process for the Bunges has been slow, but youths in the province have recognized the need to legitimize the operations of the village Bunges to tap into existing opportunities created by the government and the private sector. Mercy Corps organized two County Bunge Forums, bringing together 994 youths from 15 constituencies. The purpose of the CBF was to elect a CBF board that is representative of the Village Bunges in terms of gender balance, ethnic balance, people with disability, and regional representation. Young women's participation in Bunges stands at 37.4%, but leadership has primarily been a male affair. However, Bunges dominated by young women have managed to initiate viable community projects, indicating that the YYC platform can boost women's participation in community development. The program has also conducted a second round of Basic Civic Engagement and trained 43 Trainers of Trainers, who rolled out their mentorship training to another 93 Village Bunge members, bringing the total to 144 youth who assist the Bunges with asset/resource mapping and action plans, as well as organizing advocacy campaigns on individual Bunge level issues. The skills acquired have borne fruits, evident by how Bunges have been able to initiate discussions and campaigns with the local leadership. To increase youth employability, livelihoods, and income, the program rolled-out entrepreneurship trainings in four districts in Juja and Gatanga constituencies. The Bunges had previously selected 16 youths as ToTs to determine the appropriateness of the draft curriculum content developed by MCI. All 16 were paired up to create room for peer learning as they jointly trained the first cohort of 317 Village Bunge members of 16 Bunges. The program plans to continue mobilizing youth to form Village Bunges and increase their membership, but anticipate that the formation of new Bunges and increasing of membership will be more of a youth-led activity than a Mercy Corps and implementing partner-led activity. The program will concentrate on issuing advocacy grants, community grants, youth enterprises small grants, as well as increasing young women's opportunities to benefit from YYC.