JIACTIVATE
Building a powerful youth voice in Kenyan society.
We partnered with Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) to create JIACTIVATE and engage youth in the issues that most impact them.
Key Outcomes
Engaged youth in 33 of the 47 counties across Kenya
Gained over 164,000 views in a few days of upload.
Sensitized 137,000+ youth nationwide and launched a youth declaration
Challenge
Kenya’s youth make up 80% of the population, but with the August 2017 General Election approaching, they were being left out of political and policy conversations. Despite the huge potential support to be gained from young people, decision makers and the media often wrongly assume that they aren’t interested in participating in political debates.
Strategy
Kenya’s youth make up 80% of the population, but with the August 2017 General Election approaching, they were being left out of political and policy conversations. Despite the huge potential support to be gained from young people, decision makers and the media often wrongly assume that they aren’t interested in participating in political debates.
Creative
The creative concept for JIACTIVATE centered on leveraging popular culture to spark youth engagement. We used vibrant, youth-friendly visuals, relatable storytelling, and compelling influencer-led campaigns to make political discussions accessible. Key activations included co-created content with youth leaders, dynamic digital campaigns, SMS outreach, and in-person events designed to amplify youth voices. The campaign combined creativity with grassroots energy to inspire action and drive advocacy.
Campaign
We conducted polls to identify key issues for young people, leading to the co-creation of JIACTIVATE with eight youth-led partner organizations. The campaign featured in-person events, influencer support and digital activity, all aimed to engage youth in political discussions. We organized 50+ activities across 38 counties, combining influencers, social media and SMS activity. We also created a campaign website to encourage youth to express themselves and share inputs for a Youth Declaration.
Impact
The JIACTIVATE campaign generated over 130,000 individual inputs from young people all around Kenya. At our final event, we had ~1k young people attend with all political candidates, resulting in the Minister of Youth endorsing our Youth Declaration. Since then, JIACTIVATE has built youth group capacity and enhanced understanding of government processes, establishing three JIACTIVATE issue-based networks of youth groups. These groups help coordinate county- and national-level engagement and advocacy.
“You don’t have to be a big person to do big things. Change doesn’t happen overnight, it’s the small things every day that end up being big.”
Kenyan youth participant
