
Linda Amani Peace Campaign
LINDA AMANI YOUTH PEACE CAMPAIGN
Young people are on a revolution...to preserve peace no matter what. We are on the move...
The "Linda Amani" (Preserve Peace) was a country-wide, multi-stakeholder, youth-led campaign spearheaded by the Kenya Youth Climate Network with support from Norwegian Church Aid, Church World Service, National Council of Churches of Kenya and the Kenya Scouts Association to mobilize young people to preach, promote and maintain PEACE and help our nation's citizens realize that WE are responsible for our nation's peace in order to achieve development and growth towards bringing peace and reconciliation in Kenya. The campaign ran under the theme: Kenya Yangu, Amani Lazima (My Kenya, Peace is a Must).
The campaign aimed;
1. To secure peace and subsequent ownership of the peace campaign from the youth in the target regions
2. To provide an opportunity for the youth ton reflect on peace and electoral violence in Kenya as well as their role in peace building before ,during and after the general election
3. Training of the identified youths as peace ambassadors /monitors
Key activities in the project included:
1. Community service activities in identified towns across the country
2. Regional Peace Caravans that traversed across the country meeting citizens and leaders and engaging the in peace discussions
2. A National Youth Peace Cummunities which brought together youth leaders from various communities and sectors for a national dialogue on peace
Some of the key areas addressed during the campaign include the following:
1. Youth scenarios towards 2030
2. Electoral violence... in.Kenya since 1992 to date
3. Personal accounts of electoral related violence
4. Analyzing the current political state in the context of peace and violence
5. Constitution, electoral participation and human rights
6. Leadership and integrity as a Kenyan
7. Understanding the concept of devolution for regional and national integration
8. Ethnicity and national cohesion
9. National preparedness to mitigate violence
10. Electoral process under the new constitution
11. Advocacy and Actvocacy
Emphasis were laid on the need to draw lessons from the aftermath of the prevuious elections in 2007 to prevent a reoccurence of violence. The young people were also urged to play a lead role in ensuring peace prevails across the country, berfore, during and after the elections. The representatives of Kenya Scouts Association through Messengers of Peace initiative also urged all Kenyans to vote wisely and maintain peace.