KISIP awards certificates to city youth equipped with Digital Public Works Skills
Hundreds of youth drawn from three informal settlements in Nairobi were last week awarded with certificates following their participation in the Digital Public Works (DPW) Project that was spearheaded by the Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project and the World Bank.
The KISIP and World Bank-led DPW Model provided a platform for youth drawn from Embakasi Sokoni, KCC Village and Kahawa Soweto settlements be engaged by being equipped with skills required in the production of information and data necessary for informal settlement upgrading. The data collection exercise, which was done between April and September last year, also provided them with short-term employment opportunities and skills transfer through data collection, thereby preparing them for job opportunities.
The exercise also provided the youth with an opportunity to learn about the digitization of aerial imagery by using terrestrial cameras for image acquisition in the informal settlements. They also took part in digital micro-tasking and household surveys.
Creation of jobs to the youth, women and other groups is one of the key targets to measure contribution of KISIP2 in alleviating unemployment in the country. Through interventions such as the infrastructural projects, application of inclusive and participatory approaches to collect socio-economic data and critical urban datasets while providing opportunities for youth in informal settlements to earn income and build digital skills, are some of the ways in which the project is creating jobs to thousands of Kenyan youth in the informal settlements.
Other key stakeholders in the DPW exercise were Nairobi City County and the State Department of Housing and Urban Development and Spatial Collective – the firm that was recruited by the World Bank to undertake the exercise.
The award event, held between November 16 -17, 2023 saw hundreds of youth from the three settlements participate in the ceremony.
It was attended by a team from the National Project Coordination Team (NPCT), the County Project Coordination Team (CPCT) from Nairobi County, Settlement Executive Committees (SEC) and the Grievance Redress Committees (GRCs) from the three sprawling settlements.
“The goal of this project was to engage youth in skills transfer, produce the information necessary for informal settlement upgrading by engaging and providing short-term employment opportunities to urban youth through data collection. At KISIP 2, we are committed in ensuring our youth are involved in projects that can empower them socio-economically,” said Ms. Gladys Juma who led the KISIP2 national team during the award ceremony.
DPW project recruited and trained the youth from the settlements and gave them tools to collect their own data. The project specifically targeted youth because they represent the majority of the population and are among the most vulnerable groups due to the lack of opportunities, especially in urban centers. The applications for work were made open to anyone living in the three settlements aged between 18 and 35.
KISIP 2 is a state project being implemented by the Government of Kenya (GOK) through funding by the World Bank and the Agence Française de Development (AFD). The project, which is a key Vision 2030 enabler, aims at improving access to basic services and land tenure security of residents in participating urban informal settlements and strengthen institutional capacity for slum upgrading in Kenya.
It is further anchored in the Government’s agenda of enabling residents benefit by having access to basic infrastructure services and land tenure security. The project is currently domiciled at the State Department for Housing and Urban Development in the Ministry of Lands, Public works, Housing and Urban Development and is being implemented through 33 participating county governments and in close partnership with other State agencies and stakeholders.
Ends