As Kenya prepares for general election on 8th August, 2017; the youth are condemned for perpetrating violence as ethnic warriors yet they are the biggest victims and casualties. 5, 000 young people of ages between 18 and 35 years will participate in a media counter narrative strategy informed by the youth themselves, environmental and individual drivers will un- package violence extremism ideas to discourage them from violent activities.
While many reports concede that electoral violence is rampant in Kenya, the youth are most visibly engaged and used to penetrate and spread violence. Thus profiles built on stereotype assumptions based on religion, race, ethnicity, gender, socio- economic status among others are discriminatory and ineffective. Possible drivers of youth involvement in violence are varied and combine in a unique way. They are condemned for perpetrating violence as ethnic warriors yet they are the victims.
A coordinated approach to CVE that incorporate young people's experiences and their voices takes into account the social settings, the broader conditions and the ways in which young individuals and groups become exposed to and engage with violent extremism. Focus group discussions will be organized for the youth in the communities. During this process, WAUPIK will develop a 'CVE wo' Facebook page and blog spot to keep the conversation. Each week we shall have CVE tweets of narratives developed.
This project is based on creating a working framework for the youths by engaging the youth themselves. It aims to be an all-inclusive youth-based approach. The virtual CVE workroom and with a grassroots presence, will simplify both collection and analytics on youths and CVE, providing a common view of information which is understood by all in the CVE process. CVE related institutions, youth-led organizations and youth individuals will have the opportunity to feed in and share information
