VSO Christmas Meetup: Youth are the future

‘Young people play a critical role in creating the change that we desire to see for our communities.’ During our online Christmas Meetup on December 9, 2021, Kenneth Ramah and our other speakers gave our supporters a better understanding of VSO’s work with youth and how youth play a critical role in increasing the resilience of vulnerable communities. Were you unable to attend or do you want to relive the Meetup? You can find videos of the presentations below. We wish everyone lovely holidays and a happy and healthy new year! 

Resilient livelihoods: The challenges we face, incredible breakthroughs and long-lasting impact  

From the climate crisis and a roll back on women’s rights to the livelihoods crisis and food crisis, all over the world, people face big challenges. Our colleague and Global Resilient Livelihoods Lead, Ruchi Tripathi gave an overview of these challenges and how VSO aims to tackle these, building the resilience of vulnerable communities, through a variety of projects. 

Youth Engagement in transforming food systems

Youth play an important role in climate action, transforming food systems and building resilient communities. The second speaker of the Meetup was Kenneth Ramah. He is a good example of this. As co-founder and executive Director of Youth for Sustainable Development (YSD) in Kenya, he mobilized and led youth in Nairobi to address the impacts of Covid-19. Both through this and his work for VSO as Climate Change Youth Advisor, vulnerable communities have improved their resilience in health, livelihoods and social lives. For instance, he organized food system stakeholder dialogues. Curious to hear more about Kenneth’s experiences and how youth play an important role in transforming food systems? Watch the video below of his presentation.

Small fly, big impact: Tackling the multiple challenges of youth employment, poverty and climate change

Our third and final speaker was Abbey Lubega. He is an Out Grower Production Manager at the Marula/ProTeen project. As a supervisor, he represents youth at the organization leadership and drives youth engagement. This project is a good example of how youth can tackle the issues of youth unemployment, food insecurity and climate change, by investing in decent work for youth. The project is led by local young people. To give an insight in this project and the aspirations of young people regarding employment, Abbey and his team recorded a video. Abbey was also present during the meeting to answer questions and share more of his experiences.