What a time to mark the International Youth Day 2024 when youth-led organising and agitation for just and citizen-centric government services and responsiveness are at an all time high. From Kenya’s Gen Z-led protests to the student-led riots in Bangladesh and in Nigeria, Uganda and Malawi, Governments are being called to order and demanded to heed the call of leadership and service. And what’s more, steeplechase pro Faith Cherotich (17), 24-year-olds Beatrice Chebet and Mary Moraa, Faith Kipyegon (30) and many other young champions have flown our Kenyan flag so high on the global map at the 2024 Olympics. These indeed are key milestones that we must celebrate and document in the many platforms we now have access to. And so to every young person contributing to, and doing a single thing to raise their voices for the good of our beloved country, happy international youth day!
As we mark this very important week and celebrate young people’s achievements thus far, we must remember the critical part of young women’s contributions in the developments, government actions and movement building that we currently see, to avoid the (sometimes deliberate) erasure of women in the stories told and those to be told many years from now.
Today, we tell young women – we see you, we are cheering you on, herstory will remember you positively. Herstory has you on the right side, sheroes! From Mercy Tarus who in 2023 called out corrupt Uasin Gishu county government officials who embezzled University Scholarship funds and robbed the county’s young leaders of a bright future, to Rachel Mwikali and Wanjira Wanjiru who mobilized resources towards justice for Mathare floods victims; these young women greatly contributed to the youth organizing we see today.
What’s more, the January 27, 2024 anti-femicide protests dubbed #EndFemicideKE and #TotalShutDownKE will go down in herstory as one of the most well organized, mobilized and most peaceful campaign and protests in Kenya. This would not have been possible without the women-led efforts and initiatives like Usikimye, Zamara Foundation, Feminists in Kenya, and the EndFeminicideKE initiative led by bold young women, and young digital influencers who braved retrogressive stunts and online misogyny by violence perpetrators and apologists.