Youth Agency in Peacebuilding: an Account of Mombasa County, Kenya

Global experience with sustainable peacebuilding has been diverse since the term was formally introduced to the world by the United Nations in 1992. Various and diverse attempts have been made at sustainable peacebuilding involving different stakeholders. African youths have become important stakeholders in the peacebuilding agenda because they occupy multiple roles in violence: as belligerents, victims and targets of violence, but more importantly as actors for peace. Their involvement has been momentous, as exemplified by the 2020 African Union Continental Framework for Youth, Peace and Security. In Kenya, similar efforts have been made and the Government has produced the Kenya Youth Development Policy (2019) which places youth at the center of peacebuilding. Despite these efforts, the potential for sustainable peacebuilding through youth involvement has not been fully understood. It is against this backdrop that this study sought to establish youth agency in peacebuilding as a critical development in Kenya’s peace agenda, focusing on Mombasa County. In so doing, it assesses various strategies adopted to incorporate the youth in peacebuilding initiatives. The findings of this study provide not only a County youth framework on peacebuilding but also a nationwide outlook on youth agency in peacebuilding.