Kenyan Youths have been encouraged to take advantage of the Youth Unite and Talk (Yunitok) messaging platform to engage in meaningful conversations to transform their societies. The Youth have been told that no one will come to address challenges that are in their society unless they step up and participate in providing solutions.
Yunitok is a messaging platform developed by the Kenya Scouts Association to encourage youth to be part of the development process in their communities.
The platform works in the same way as the globally known U-report, which is a messaging tool that empowers young people across the world to engage and speak out on issues that matter to them.
Speaking to KNA in Kakamega on Friday, the North Rift Messengers of Peace (MOP) Coordinator, Antony Tabisha said youth can use the platform to share what they might be doing or what they have seen being done to benefit other youth.
The platform also gives them a chance to share the challenges they might be facing in the society or a problem which needs intervention from leaders and other stakeholders.
“Yunitok gives you an opportunity to say what you have seen, share the problems you are seeing in your village, and even the achievements and the good things that are happening in your community,” he explained.
He said they can speak out through social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Tabisha who is also a fourth year student at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), noted that Yunitok is one of the programs under Kenya Scouts Association. Others are Messengers of Peace and Child Online protection.
He encouraged youths to engage with community members in order to inspire change through Voluntary activities. “We are training youths so that they can go to the community and become agents of change,” he noted.
The Coordinator said trained youth can identify challenges in the society and act on them. He said it is not a must that they have resources or have the capacity to provide solutions but that their willingness and taking initiative will attract donor funding.
“The only thing is willingness and taking the initiative, once you have identified the problem there are donors willing to support,” he noted.
Tabisha also said, through the platform, youth who might be struggling with toxic relationships and mental health issues can get help on how to overcome.
He said Yunitok is not tied to Scouts alone but to all youths across the country and one can join either through a Short Message Service (SMS), WhatsApp or Facebook page.
By Moses Wekesa
