ICON Data and Learning (IDL) recently took part in the 2023/24 edition of the Commonwealth Year of Youth. This initiative, extended into the second year, seeks to create more opportunities for pan-Commonwealth initiatives that address global issues affecting young people like climate change, gender equality and unemployment.

IDL were boots on the ground on 23rd August 2024 with an activity aimed at promoting positive youth development through digital and data rights advocacy. At the time of launching, we were set to be the only Social Impact Organization (SIO) in Kenya whose 2023/24 Commonwealth Year of Youth activity was endorsed by the Secretariat. A fete we remain proud of, as it reflects our ongoing efforts to support and deliver community initiatives that make tangible contributions toward achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals.

During our Year of Youth 2023/24 activity, we engaged at least 9 youth-led and youth-serving organizations in the Lake region of Kenya (Kisumu, Kisii and Bomet counties), in an aim to understand their specific needs and key challenges related to digital and data rights. IDL was also joined by Mr. George Orude, Youth and Gender Affairs Officer — the County Government Representative for Youth Affairs, who highlighted the significance of youth engagement. In the activity was also Mr. Kaluoch Joshua, Regional Youth and Gender Affairs Coordinator Officer; Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs — the National Government.We experienced so much interest in data rights protection all throughout the engagements and contributions from the different organization representatives.

Zeddy Misiga, IDL’s Data and Learning Lead, noted that “IDL is fostering an ecosystem where digital and data rights are responsibly and ethically upheld, shared, scaled and continuously refined (in line with our culture) throughout the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” He also added that the organization had adopted a community-based participatory approach to seamlessly integrate sustainability and resilience into all aspects of its data advocacy, data literacy and data cooperatives interventions.

Sentiments shared pointed to the need of having more sensitization and perhaps imparting more skills in digital and data rights on a broader scale to reach more young people. We were impressed by how the representatives were cognisant of their need to feel secure about their data but weren’t skilled in the know-how.

“How come the government is able to track my movement using my phone even though my phone details are only held by the telcos? This is not fair, they are infringing on democracy and human rights.” — One participant posed a question regarding the government’s role in enforcing data protection laws.

This gave us a perspective into why ICON Data and Learning must continue advocating for increased awareness among target groups and stakeholders.

Earlier this year, IDL was also one of the 4 social impact organizations awarded across the globe to implement the CYRILLA digital rights advocacy initiatives. This recognition follows IDL’s pioneering use of community-based participatory design to deliver digital and data rights training and awareness programs for marginalized communities and grassroots organizations.

Finally, during the year of youth activity, we also had a roundtable that provided a safe space for open discussions on data protection and security. Participants shared their views on policymakers and the government’s commitment to safeguarding their privacy and personal data. These conversations contributed to the development of specific mini-awareness training guidelines for advocating digital and data rights.

Thus far, we have facilitated these sessions to at least 37 organizations, with a goal to reach 50 organizations in 2024. This progress is made possible through partnerships with organizations like the Commonwealth Secretariat, who supported this activity. As the session concluded, the representatives expressed their gratitude and a strong desire for more such engaging and informative meetings in the future. So, Yes to More Dialogues!