The Youth Agenda (YAA) is a premier youth organization that works towards a “Just, Equitable and Progressive society in which young people fully enjoy social, economic and political rights and opportunities". This vision is grounded upon the belief that it is possible to realize a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life in the near future, as envisaged by Kenya’s Vision 2030. YAA has aligned its vision and mission to this national development blueprint, whose anchor is the comprehensive implementation of the new, people-driven constitution. By providing a platform to harness and nurture young people’s personal, community and national development through informed, innovative and value driven approaches since 1996, YAA has nurtured youth consciousness towards fostering positive change, good governance and value driven leadership across the republic and has registered numerous victories for young people.
A just, equitable and progressive society in which young people fully enjoy social, economic and political rights.
To provide a platform to harness and nurture young people through informed, innovative and value driven approaches for personal, community and national development.
The values and principles that will govern all aspects of YAA work and to which all its staff, members and organs shall abide and be guided by are:
YAA's Brief History
The Youth Agenda (YAA) is a national, non-partisan and non-profit Civil Society Organization registered in Kenya as a non-governmental organization. YAA was founded in 1996 as an independent national youth initiative with the overall mission to redefine the role and contribution of the Kenyan youth in the governance and development processes in the country. It was conceived by a group of young people, then student leaders in Kenya’s public Universities, who during the formative days of reintroduced plural politics in Kenya were concerned about the status of the country’s governance and leadership. They were convinced that reforming the Kenyan state required young and vibrant leadership. This necessitated the organized involvement of young people in Kenya’s democratic processes. Towards this end, following the formation of YAA, structured dialogue among young people from the different sectors in Kenya on how to radically redefine the role of young people in political, economic and social discourses were facilitated by YAA, starting with the first National Youth Convention in Limuru in March 1997.
The Convention marked the first time that a large group of young people met to deliberate on the future of the country and their role in it. At the end of the conference, under the theme, “The Challenge of national Rebirth: Our Responsibility, our Place” the youth made far-reaching resolutions aimed at mainstreaming youth leadership in all spheres of national life. From then henceforth, YAA sought to implement the resolutions of that Convention and work towards putting youth at the centre of national leadership and governance processes.
YAA, has in the last sixteen years, evolved into a premier youth organization, registering phenomenal growth in stature through fostering positive change by mobilizing youth consciousness and nurturing young ethical leadership across the Republic. Today, the Youth Agenda has, to its credit, an increased youth consciousness through participation in critical governance processes, enhanced visibility of young people occupying leadership positions in various sectors and the proliferation of youth led organizations aimed at making a difference.
