Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho is on Wednesday expected to unveil a youth policy document developed by the young people in the region.
The youth policy paper seeks to address challenges the young generation faces.
The county government, through the Youth, Gender and Sports Department, organised four dialogue forums where youth presented their issues.
Among the issues to be addressed in the policy are unemployment, sports development, youth-friendly health services, education and social skills.
Mombasa Youth chief officer Innocent Mugabe yesterday said the youth were given a platform to engage the county on what they want.
“We do not want to make decisions on behalf of the youth. We’ve invited them to discuss and make a presentation that will help develop the Mombasa Youth Policy,” Mugabe said.
He said the policy document is long-term solution to address the region’s half-a-million population.
According to the 2019 census, Mombasa’s 1.2 million population is composed of 42 per cent youth.
“We want to develop entrepreneurs. We want our young people to earn a decent livelihood,” he said.
Mugabe said due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the county government decided to engage youth at the subcounty level, rather than calling for a bigger meeting.
“At the subcounty halls, we have put in place measures to ensure social distancing. At least 50 youth from each subcounty meet for half a day and present their views before they disperse,” he said.
On Wednesday, youth from Jomvu and Changamwe sub-counties met at Changamwe Social Hall, on Thursday, Kisauni and Nyali youths met at Frere Town Social Hall.
On Friday, Mvita youth met at Tononoka Social Hall, and on Saturday they finalised with youth from Likoni at the Likoni Social Hall.
“Next week Wednesday, during the International Youth Day, Mombasa governor will receive the policy document that would have been developed from the sub-counties forums,” said Mugabe.