The Government wants to fully exploit the potential of the youth in national development planning by increasing investment in their education, healthcare and skills development to enable them realize their aspirations.
Principal Secretary (PS) for Economic Planning Dr. Bonface Barasa Makokha noted that Kenya’s youthful population presents a unique opportunity to accelerate socio-economic transformation if supported through deliberate policies and investments.
Makokha pointed out that 63 percent of Kenya’s population is below the age of 25, making investments in education, health, innovation, and employment essential to unlocking the country’s demographic dividend.
“Our youth demographic is a historic window of opportunity. However, this dividend is not automatic. It requires deliberate, rights-based, and forward-looking investments,” he stated.
The PS made these remarks in a speech delivered on his behalf by the Dr. Masini Ichwara, Director General for Economic Planning during the 2026 World Population Day celebrations in Nairobi.
The event was organized by the Council for Population and Development (NCPD) in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), under the theme ‘Realizing the Hopes and Aspirations of Young People Today and for the Future’.
Notably, the PS said findings from the UNFPA Demographic Futures Survey showed that while young people remain optimistic about marriage, family and the future, many are unable to realize those aspirations due to unemployment, inadequate housing, economic insecurity and limited access to reproductive healthcare.
“As Kenya prepares its next long-term development plan, the aspirations and potential of young people must remain at the centre of national development planning,” Makokha added.
Speaking during the celebrations, UNFPA Officer-in-Charge for Kenya, Innocent Modisaotsile, urged governments and stakeholders to move beyond viewing young people as future leaders and instead recognize them as active contributors to today’s development.
“We must listen to young people, understand their choices, validate their hopes and create the conditions that enable them to shape their own futures,” he rallied.
Echoing the PS’s sentiments, the Officer observed that financial insecurity, unemployment and the high cost of housing continue to delay young people’s plans to marry and start families, despite many expressing a desire to do so.
Modisaotsile further called for greater investment in comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, quality education, technical skills training, affordable housing and meaningful youth participation in policymaking.
On his part, NCPD Board Chair Dr. Wario Ali emphasized that Kenya’s youthful population should be viewed as the country’s greatest development asset rather than a burden.
“Young people are not problems to be managed. They are the drivers of our economic growth,” he reaffirmed, adding that NCPD is strengthening evidence-based population planning to ensure development policies respond to the needs of young people.
Earlier, UNFPA Population Affairs Officer Ezekiel Ngure presented findings from the Demographic Futures Survey, which covered 73 countries, including Kenya. The survey found that most young people remain hopeful about the future and aspire to marry and have children, but economic insecurity, unstable employment, high housing costs and inequality continue to hinder those aspirations.
Ngure established that the findings provide valuable evidence to guide policies and investments aimed at improving opportunities for young people and harnessing Kenya’s demographic potential.
By Sharon Njeru and Lilian Gichohi
