A roadmap for enhancing youth political participation in East Africa

East Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world. In Kenya, around 80 percent of people are under 35. Yet young people hold barely any of the seats where decisions get made, and the picture is much the same across the region.

This Roadmap is more than a policy document. It is a collective call to action, written by the people it affects. Young leaders from Ethiopia, Somaliland, Uganda, and Kenya came together to launch it in Addis Ababa in July 2026, building on work that began in Malindi in 2025.

It urges governments to move beyond symbolic inclusion. It asks political parties to open up their structures and invest in young leaders, development partners to fund youth-led change for the long term, civil society and media to amplify young voices, and the private sector to back sustainable financing.

Young people are not passive beneficiaries of democracy. They are its custodians. The era of tokenism and fragmented effort has to end, and this Roadmap sets out how.

We invite you to take a look and download the Roadmap below.