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The JUMP! Leadership Program in Nairobi, Kenya aims to empower and engage youth in underserved areas to be changemakers in their communities. Together with Kenya-based NGO Paamoja Initiative, the program will raise community awareness through Open Space discussions, and equip participants with practical skills via needs assessment and Design Thinking training. Youths will design projects tackling real community challenges, and will win the opportunity to implement the projects in their communities.

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Today, there are 2.5 million slum dwellers in Nairobi, Kenya, making up 60% of city population occupying only 6% of total city land. Everyday, youths in the urban slums come face to face with a plethora of challenges, include poor sanitation and hygiene, low-quality education, lack of water and electricity, and drug use. 

Youth from the Eastland’s area of Nairobi have not only limited opportunities to enable them reach their greatest potential but also lack positive role models who can inspire and empower them to be better individuals and leaders. Made up of 6 constituencies namely; Mathare, Starehe, Kamukunji, Embakasi Central, Embakasi North and Ruaraka, the Eastlands has some of the poorest communities living and working there.

Like any other underserved region of a big city, it has a myriad of challenges especially connected to young people. The challenges which include lack of meaningful employment and empowerment opportunities, drug and substance abuse as well as hardcore and petty crimes, mostly affect the young people. This has seen rise of hardcore criminal gangs that have triggered the police to retaliate with a shoot-to-kill mentality resulting in so many deaths of the young people.

According to a report released in 2017, Mathare alone has seen more than 800 youths killed by police since 2013 to 2015. This is a similar pattern in other neighboring communities. According to the last official census, Nairobi has about 3.3 million inhabitants. More than half of that population lives in the Eastlands area of Nairobi while a rough estimate puts more than 65% of that population to be youth in between the ages of 18 to 24 years.