Mombasa county has in the recent years witnessed a budding of young activists and the creation of youth-led spaces geared towards championing youth interests in governance, accountability and political spheres. Young activists have however struggled to translate their grievances into broader political and social agendas to secure redress from duty bearers. This is attributed to limited knowledge and skills amongst community activists in community organizing, lobbying and advocacy thus inhibiting their influence on change. It is also linked to inadequate networks with organizations that could provide intellectual and financial support to their different social innovation programs.
HURIA implemented a Human Rights Mentorship component dubbed “the human rights lab”, a 12week flagship capacity building program to support knowledge, development and transfer of human rights skills to inspire a new generation of human rights defenders on the Kenyan Coast. The program brought in 12 young activists representing six youth-led organizations in Mombasa county who were furnished with practical oriented training and mentorship on human rights with the support of five renowned human rights scholars and practitioners at the Kenyan coast. It entailed a series of mentorship clinics, human rights talks, practical training sessions and networking events with various state and non-state actors in the human rights space.
Notably, the human rights defenders were exposed to diverse skills and knowledge that influence the various types of work undertaken by the respective organizations. In addition, the successful launch of an online campaign dubbed “HRDagainstCovid” that has since shed light on the human rights violations and abuses happening in communities as a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic. It has also worked to sensitize young human rights defenders on taking up their roles in support of human rights protection and promotion particularly during this period of the pandemic.
