ave historically lacked access to information, training and finance, leaving them unable to adapt to climate change and disproportionately at risk during climate extremes.
The youth are further shortchanged when it comes to economic activities, with a significant number not appropriately compensated for their work. A majority of young people in Mandera and Isiolo work in blue-collar jobs where compensation rates are not standardised. and the lack of technical tertiary institutions to provide training opportunities limits their ability to train for white-collar jobs. . This is all exacerbated by the adverse climate events that reduce the productivity of economic activities such as farming, which in turn increases the unemployment rate. In these two counties, climate change induced hazards – such as drought causing lack of pasture and water – are the largest threat to young people’s livelihoods. It also deters youth-led investment into agro-pastoralism, leading to climate induced rural-urban migration in search of job opportunities. The lack of economic opportunities also increases the risk of the youth being radicalised and turning to extremism, driven by clan-based conflict over natural resources, when extreme events destabilise food and water supplies and increase competition for basic resources in largely pastoralist communities.
Incorporating young voices into future climate proofing
Urban resilience is critical to sustainable development. By understanding the current trends and putting in place remedial actions countries can protect their environment and safeguard them for future generations. As SUED was developing the Urban Economic Plans (UEPs) for Mandera and Isiolo, we incorporated indigenous knowledge on climate change from the communities, such as Isiolo’s Dedha grazing system, with the aim of strengthening customary natural resource management institutions and empowering the community response to the climate risks the face. For example, it was critical to know the capacity of the pastoral community to withstand the impacts of climate change and disasters in both Isiolo and Mandera. One of the noted ways the communities deal with drought is through improved governance of the rangelands, reviewing rules of access and control during periods of drought, to reduce pressure on pasture and reduce conflict. Further information on the losses associated with natural events helped position the municipalities to develop a municipality-specific economic vision that would facilitate more public and private sector investment in urban resilience.
The SUED team held a series of conversations with the residents in the Isiolo and Mandera municipalities to learn more about the climate change and related socio-economic impacts that they experienced. SUED was keen to integrate the young people in these municipalities in the UEP development process to position them to engage in future climate proofing and helping to ensure that proposed solutions resonated with the young residents. The discussions helped our team design a climate risk assessment within development decisions while integrating social inclusion of often marginalised groups, including women and People Living with Disabilities (PLwD).
Below are some of the ways SUED incorporated the voices of the youth into the programme:
Integrated stakeholder management: Before starting the UEP development process, our team wanted to invest in steering conversations on urban resilience from previous development trends of recovery and reconstruction post-disaster. We needed fresh ideas and who better to reach out to than the youth in the supported municipalities, who were disproportionately impacted by the disasters and the effects of climate change. The programme ensured that all its stakeholder workshops included young people who represented the voices of the future and were not afraid of sharing dissenting opinions. SUED continued to emphasise the need to have conversations on smart-climate solutions which were openly embraced by the more youthful attendees.
Climate change awareness: