International Youth Day: Herstory has been made! Herstory has you on the right side, sheroes!

What a time to mark 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, 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 Paris 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 mobilised resources towards justice for Mathare floods victims, these young women greatly contributed to the youth mobilisation we see today.

The January 27, 2024, anti-femicide protests dubbed #EndFemicideKE and #TotalShutDownKE will go down in herstory as one of the most well-organised, mobilised and peaceful campaigns 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 violent perpetrators and apologists.

Anti-govt protests

And as Kenyans continue to agitate for the government’s proper stewardship of our hard-earned and paid taxes women have been at the forefront of the #RejectFinanceBill2024 and #StopKillingUs campaigns.

A fellow comrade was involved in the bailing out of arrested protestors on June 25 noting that around 60 per cent of the arrested protestors were young women. Young women and community leaders such as Hanifa Farsafi, Shakira Wafula, Njeri Migwi, Shikoh Kihika, Muthoni Maingi, Adelle Onyango, Lynn Ngugi and Janet Mbugua and many other dedicated women human rights defenders continue to amplify the plight of fellow citizens using their platforms, braving police brutality and online bullying, organising concerts in honour of fallen citizens during the protests and raising their voices in crucial conversations. Their courage in remaining vocal amidst repressive moves by the current regime will forever be remembered.

And Faith Odhiambo, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President is truly a woman to watch and a GOAT leader of our times. From leading fellow lawyers/advocates in bailing out innocent protestors to speaking truth to power and reminding duty bearers what our progressive constitution stipulates, Faith is the face of the LSK we always wanted to see and feel.

Today as we mark this very momentous period, and hold space for families of those who suffered police brutality and anti-movement goons, we specially remember and pay tribute to women’s lives mysteriously lost and whose bodies were sadly and painfully retrieved from the Mukuru kwa Njenga Quarry, and Catherine Wanjeri, the K24 journalist shot at by police in the line of duty during the protests.

These faces of young women on the frontline of progressive initiatives will be remembered as we tell generations to come of the fight our generation put up. And so their stories we will document and tell. We say their names and honour them now and forever. Viva young women, viva! We say their names and write their stories for our posterity!

Efforts to stop moves that roll back the gains made in ensuring that women and girls are safe and thrive in all environments continue across Kenya owing to women-led work and resulting in gender justice milestones such as the nullification of John Chebochok’s election as Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) director for being accused of workers’ sexual harassment and notable improvement in local media’s framing of women stories.

But much more needs to be done. The National Syndemic Diseases Control Council (NSDCC) has warned of the triple threat to teenage girls/mothers’ lives in Kenya; new HIV infections, teen pregnancy and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

A recent study by the National Council of Population and Development also showed that underage marriage remains prevalent, with 23 per cent of adolescent girls in Kenya married before the age of 18, compared to 2.5 per cent of boys, with girls in rural areas being most affected.

Studies also show that maternal mortality is common among teen girls due to their increased risk of obstetric and medical complications. Until all these and more challenges that women and girls face are long gone, Aluta continua!

The writer is Director of Programmes and Partnerships at Emerging Leaders Foundation-Africa

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