According to the Fragile State Index 2015, Finland is the only country, currently, that can claim to be very sustainable and stable. The rest are in varying degrees of distress with most African countries being tagged as being on high alert. This is measured by several factors, one of these being the political stability of the country. A major determinant of this is the levels of corruption within the political and economic systems of the state which Africa is failing at. However, not everyone is willing to throw in the towel just yet. The INTERNATIONAL YOUTH NETWORK AGAINST CORRUPTION has decided to take a stand.
‘What world will our children live in if we don’t act now?’ This is one of the many taglines that highlights the organization’s motivations. The Kenyan chapter is headed by 4 brave individuals, Nelson Oduma, Ruth Malanga, Samuel Onyango and Scott Herbert. These are all people in their youth who have a simple mission: To reach all youth, mentor them to become anti-corruption ambassadors and develop sustainable corruption eradication strategies and policies.
They are a newly formed organization having started just this year, 2016 but are already spreading their gospel of making Kenya a corruption-free zone. They have been visiting university campuses such as the University of Nairobi where they have been engaging the youth in discussions concerning corruption in the country. One of their pioneer programmes is the ‘Change Mentality Campaign 2016 (CMC-2016)’. The main objective of this campaign is simply to change the mind-set of the youth who are the future drivers of the world political, social, and economic fronts. They intend to do this mainly through Youth Talk On Corruption forums (YTOC Forums), Essay Competitions (the first of which ended on March 31st), mentorship programmes and distribution of ethics and integrity materials and content to learning institutions.
The YTOC Forums are where small youth groups will be meeting and conversing on matters corruption. These will be aimed at trying to come up with both long term and short term sustainable corruption eradication strategies in their countries. These strategies will then be compiled and documented before IYNACs conference and presented then for adoption. The first conference shall take place in Nairobi, Kenya in the Month of May with consecutive ones being held in Johannesburg and Berlin in September and December respectively. This campaign will run for a period of 5years, from 2016 -2020 where the achievements and gains shall be evaluated and analysed.
With the wave of global corruption taking over following reports such as the Panama Papers, it is organizations like this one that remain our pillars of justice. As Nelson Mandela once said, ‘The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.’ And each time humanity needs a wake-up call about its corruption levels, the International Youth Network Against Corruption will be there to put us back in line.
Find them on the web to become an anti-corruption ambassador and follow them on Facebook and support their campaign with the hashtag #1millionAntiCorruptionAmbassadorsby2020.
Credits: fundforpeace.org
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