Twenty-eight KIPPRA Young Professionals (cohort 2021-2022) graduated on 21st December 2022 at a colourful ceremony held in Nairobi. The event was attended by the KIPPRA Board, Executive Director, the alumni of the programme, management and staff as well as other stakeholders who have interacted with and supported the programme.
The Young Professionals (YP) programme began in 2003 and hence this was the 19th cohort. It aims to enhance the technical competence in evidence-based policy process, build research capabilities of participants, enlighten on the scope, relationships and procedures in governance structure in both national and county level, introduce participants to economic tools of analysis and provide practical experience in the policy making process. The programme targets young persons from both public and private sector at initial stages of their career. They must be aged below 35 years and possess a master’s degree in a relevant field. The admission process also takes into account county, ethnic as well as gender and disability representation.
The YPs undertake rigorous training and thereafter apply the skill to develop research papers covering various topical themes. They also do blogs and policy briefs, which are published by KIPPRA. Each of them was awarded a certificate of achievement for the successfully completing the programme.
The YP programme began with support from the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and over the years only admitted 10 to 14 YPs per year. However, in recent years, with support from the Government, more than 30 YPs are able to train every year.
The programme is one of the three key capacity building programmes at the Institute. The other one is the KIPPRA Mentorships Programme for Universities (KMPUs) and the others fall under the commercialized programmes.