Written by Gloria Leah

Roads led to the East Africa Data Governance Conference at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites in Nairobi on the morning of February 26th, where key stakeholders convened to discuss issues around data protection and governance. As part of this event, the Ijue Data Yako roundtable provided a platform for dialogue on sustaining youth-led digital rights initiatives and strengthening the link between policy and implementation.

The Ijue Data Yako project was a six-month initiative that began in February to August 2024 and was designed to equip youth-led and youth-serving organizations in Kisumu County with essential skills in digital rights and data protection. Ijue Data Yako initiative a collaboration of ICON Data and Learning Labs (IDL) and CYRILLA Collaborative (implemented through CIPIT). Using a structured six-week virtual training, co-created educational resources, and peer-led research on data governance, participating organizations gained the knowledge and capacity to advocate for digital rights and data protection in their organizational settings and the broader community.

The engaging roundtable session featured an insightful panel discussion with CPA Aurelia Miheso from Amnesty International Kenya, Joshua Ogucho from the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Eric Obare from Homeless of Kisumu (HOK), and myself, Gloria Leah from IDL. Moderated by Zeddy Misiga, the discussion revolved around strengthening youth participation in data governance and bridging the gap between policy frameworks and real-world implementation.

One participator from the audience mentioned, “Having the actual implementers to talk about it rather than organizational heads. I got to hear their experience firsthand. Another participant expressed, “I liked hearing from the beneficiary. He expressed the needs addressed and the gaps of the intervention.” The dialogue highlighted some areas of opportunity in implementing data protection at the grassroots level. They included;

1.Ensuring the Sustainability of Youth-Led Initiatives
The discussion underscored the importance of consistent mentorship and training to ensure that digital rights advocacy remains active beyond project timelines. One of the participants in the audience recommended that we should “Encourage organizations to include data protection from the planning phase, when making budgets for proposals.”

2. Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Implementation
While Kenya’s Data Protection Act (2019) provides a legal framework for data governance, enforcement remains a challenge. The roundtable emphasized the need for youth organizations to translate policy into actionable community-driven initiatives like the Ijue Data Yako.Peer-learning model emerged as a best practice for ensuring that legal frameworks are understood and applied at the grassroots level.

3. The Role of Digital Literacy in Advancing Data Governance
Many grassroots organizations lack the technical capacity to fully engage with data protection compliance requirements. Training programs such as Ijue Data Yako play a crucial role in bridging this knowledge gap.

4. Strengthening Collaboration Between Civil Society and Government Institutions
Effective data governance requires collaboration. The panelists highlighted the need for closer engagement between Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and regulatory authorities such as the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) to harmonize policy enforcement with grassroots advocacy.

Building on the success of the first cohort, Cohort 2 of Ijue Data Yako II is set to launch on Thursday, March 27, 2025. This phase will expand its reach to organizations across Kisumu and Kakamega counties following feedback from the audience to “broaden the scope of operations to other counties.” In addition to structured training, ICON Data and Learning Labs will take an active role in supporting these organizations in their compliance journey, offering hands-on guidance in steps such as undertaking data mapping, data inventory, development of data protection policies & procedures, engaging third-party orgs/vendors among others. This will ensure that data protection practices are sustainably integrated into their operations. As the project moves into its next phase, IDL remains focused on equipping these organizations with the skills, knowledge, and support they need to embed data protection principles into their work including holding their hand in walking the data protection compliance journey.