The second Kenya Informal Settlement Improvement Project (KISIP 2) has been urged to continue implementing new innovative digital ideas aimed at creating employment and improving effectiveness of youth in urban informal settlements.
The World Bank particularly lauded the Digital Public Works (DPW) Model – piloted by KISIP as key to reducing inequalities and supporting the youth in the context of rapid urbanization.
Senior Managing Director of the World Bank Group Axel van Trotsenburg made the remarks during a round-table discussion with youth drawn from KCC village Embakasi.
“The demand for workers with digital skills is rapidly increasing, presenting an opportunity for urban youth. Digital technologies are changing the ways that businesses are done requiring governments, businesses and individuals to adapt to the new reality,” he challenged the forum.
He added that the application of DPW Model by KISIP 2 has positively affected the youth in Nairobi with collaborative digital approaches emerging as efficient and cost-effective ways to produce data.
He further lauded the steadfast collaboration between the Bretton Woods Institution and the Agence Française de Development (AFD).
AFD Kenya Country Director, Bertrand Willocquet said that cooperation between AFD and World Bank has added value to KISIP projects, adding that the new Urban Fabric Initiatives (UFIs) will also be undertaken as a pilot in selected communities.
Through the DPW Model the youth drawn from Embakasi Sokoni, KCC Village and Kahawa Soweto settlements in Nairobi County, were able to benefit from information and data necessary for informal settlement upgrading.
The data collection exercise also provided them with short-term employment opportunities and skills transfer through data collection, thereby preparing them for job opportunities.
They got an opportunity to learn about digitization of aerial imagery by using terrestrial cameras for image acquisition in the informal settlements besides taking part in digital micro-tasking and household surveys.
Creation of jobs for the youth, women and other groups is one of the key targets to measure the contribution of KISIP2 in alleviating unemployment in the country.
The project is creating jobs for thousands of Kenyan youth in the informal settlements through interventions such as infrastructural projects, the application of inclusive and participatory approaches to collect socio-economic data and critical urban datasets.
Present during the forum were Principal Secretary State Department of Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga, Housing Secretary Said Athman, Deputy Governor Nairobi County, James Njoroge Muchiri, KISIP National Project Coordinator George Arwa, KISIP 2 Task Team Leader at the World Bank Beatriz Eraso Puig and staff from the National Project Coordination Team (NPCT).
