Consultancy Opportunity: Research on Youth Activism at the Kenyan Coast, Oslo Center

Subject: Youth Activism at the Kenyan Coast
Research Location: Kenya
Research Timeline: December 2022
Open to: Research Expert/ Youth Activism Experts

1. Introduction

The Oslo Center was founded in 2006. It is a democratic support organization focusing on supporting democratization processes. The Oslo Center’s approach to democracy assistance is by providing technical assistance to promote and enhance democratic practices by strengthening governance, political and government institutions, and civic spaces.

The Oslo Center has since 2011 been working in Kenya to support democracy through provision of technical expertise to institutions of democracy and governance mainly political parties, women and youth in political parties and the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP). The organization has also been working at Kenya’s Coast to strengthen the capacity of youth to engage and participate effectively in governance processes and further create a platform for engagement. The program has been implemented since 2015 and yielded some significant outcomes and results when it comes to youth activeness in governance processes.

2. RATIONALE:

Background Information

Kenya is recognized as one of the first countries in Africa to enact a comprehensive law and policy to guide representation and participation of the underrepresented groups, however youth are still largely excluded from formal policy and decision-making processes. Youth involvement has often been tokenistic thus not providing youth with an opportunity to meaningfully engage as valuable stakeholders, allowing sufficient time and resources to properly prepare content, understand procedures and substantially contribute. Youth have lacked the capacity and access to engage effectively with policy and decision-making processes. In addition, there is often a disconnect between new knowledge and realities of youth at the grassroot. This relates to how the knowledge that researchers produce is received and utilized by the citizens, including youth, as well as the question of how research processes and research uptake can be enhanced by including youth perspectives. Decision-makers too are often distant from science and knowledge production processes.

The Oslo Center plans to undertake research on youth activism at the Kenyan Coast to understand the milestones made on youth engagements and develop new knowledge that would inform the best mechanisms to enhance youth participation and activism. The research would mainly deploy secondary approaches to collect data and use the existing platforms of the youth assemblies in Kwale and Lamu to harvest primary data. The research would provide comparative analysis of the level of youth activism in the six counties of the Coastal region.

3. Objectives of the study

The main objective of the study is to analyze the level of youth activism in coastal region of Kenya to understand the milestones, challenges, and opportunities for the youth.
The Study will seek to determine the following: –
a. To interrogate the level of youth activism in the coastal region with a focus on Kwale and Lamu counties.
b. To review the milestones on youth participation and engagements in governance processes.
c. To harvest current trends on youth activism in Kwale and Lamu Counties.
d. To assess the position of female youth in Kwale and Lamu counties.
e. Provide key recommendations for both short-term and long-term strategies towards advancing youth activism in the coastal region.

4. Scope of work

The consultancy will provide a broad analysis of youth activeness and engagement in the six counties in coastal region and a keen focus on Kwale and Lamu counties. The research should highlight the role of youth assemblies’ program in strengthening the capacity and abilities of the youth to engage and participate in governance processes.

5.Study Methodology

The study will adopt a mixed research approach to collect and analyze data from both primary and secondary sources. The methodology will be participatory, engaging different stakeholders in meaningful and appropriate ways to ensure inclusion, reflecting on and respecting stakeholder diversity (especially gender, age, special interests’ groups) as a minimum.

6. Expected Deliverables

The Research Consultant is expected to produce the following.
a. Research and methodology proposal
b. Research tools including questionnaires and interview guides.
c. Data set including the database of the participants to be included in the study
d. Draft report with research findings and recommendations.
e. Final report

7. Timelines

The research is expected to begin in December and take about 10 days from the date of signing the contract.

8. Qualifications and attributes required

Individuals interested in this assignment must meet the following minimum requirements:
▪ Master’s Degree in Political science, Law, public administration, or equivalent experience
▪ At least 10 years of experience in conducting research in the field of democracy, human rights, and youth.
▪ Extensive experience in conducting youth action research.
▪ Experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, ability to organize and moderate focus group discussions.

▪ Ability to establish priorities, and to plan, coordinate and monitor own work.
▪ Good inter-personal skills, ability to work in a consultative and collaborative manner.
▪ Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relationships in a political environment
▪ Proven ability to adapt the research plan to challenges and opportunities emerging during the research