Worry as survey reveals 900,000 adolescents idle

There are more than 900,000 adolescents across the country who are idle, a new survey has revealed.  

According to a demographic quarterly survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistic (KNBS), 7.8 per cent of the 11,617,890 adolescents, are not economically engaged. 

And stakeholders including the government under State Department for Economic Planning are now expressing worry over the trend they say is casting a shadow on the country’s future. 

Economic Planning Principal Secretary James Muhati represented by Secretary of the State Department, Timothy Gakuo, urged actors to tap into digital technology to enhance inclusion and avert the looming menace. 

“Of the over 11,000,000, about 7.8 per cent - who are mainly girls - were not in any education, employment or training,” said Mr Muhati. 

He spoke on Wednesday in Nairobi during commemoration of World Population Day. He added: “We must leverage on technology to deliver accurate data that will not leave any individual behind when planning for development.” 

The 2024 survey says Kenya is currently home to about 5.7 per cent male and 5.8 per cent female population aged between 10 to 19, representing 22.2 per cent of the population. 

Faced with myriad challenges, Muhati called on players to embrace technology driven data. “We need to capture more data within humanitarian settings and their full range of diversity that then can be analysed and used for development decisions for individual people to reach their full potential,” he said. 

Arid and semi-arid regions, he said, are the most affected with North Eastern counties leading in unproductivity index among the youth, representing 52 per cent. 

At the same time, the high number of youthful generation languishing in poverty and faced with challenges of teenage pregnancies, high rate of sexually transmitted infections and school drop outs among others. 

It emerged that 40 per cent of adolescent girls and 30 per cent of boys aged between 15 to 19 have tested positive for HIV with counties of Homa Bay, Migori, Siaya, Kisumu, Kisii, Uasin Gishu, Kakamega, Nairobi, Kajiado and Nakuru contributing to 59 per cent of cases. 

The youth, the survey indicated, are deprived of education and access to health and have minimal protection and safety as well as lack economic stability. “The evidence based data will be important in reducing HIV related deaths and prevalence of gender-based violence that our communities continue to grapple with,” he said. 

Cases of mental health were also discovered to be on the rise among teenagers as the KNBS statistics show that 14 per cent of boys and 30 per cent of girls are undergoing anxiety or depression. 

Other challenges facing the adolescents especially in rural areas include drug and substance abuse, child labour and low age for sex debut. 

The data showed more than 20 per cent of male adolescents are involved in drug and substance abuse while 7.3 per cent of their female are engaged in the menace. 

Economic Planning Director General Mohamed Sheikh said these revelations calls for increase technology driven data that will in turn inform evidence based policy development to help the youth. 

“Lack of accurate data in the long run affect development planning for a country. By ensuring we have accurate data on individuals lays a ground for transformative change, because we will understand the demographics and their specific needs,” he said.