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Between 12^th and 20^th June 2017, CEEC conducted a Sauti Mtaani induction of 92 youth under the project “Youth and Governance: Enhancing Youth Participation in 2017 General Elections through the Sauti Mtaani Platform within Nairobi County”. The aim was to help the youth understand how Sauti Mtaani platform works and become ambassadors who would popularize it among their peers. Sauti Mtaani is a web based platform that facilitates engagement between youth and their leaders at the ward level. This phase had 22 participating wards in Nairobi County namely Landimawe, Komarock, Viwandani, Mutuini, Eastleigh South, Eastleigh North, Kangemi, Dandora I, Dandora II, Dandora III, California, Imara Daima, Laini Saba, Kariobangi North, Ziwani/Kariokor, Airbase and Kilimani. The ambassadors appreciated the fact that the platform provided a free and easy access to the aspirants. They were happy that they were now able to engage the aspirants on pertinent issues thus helping them make informed choices at the ballot.

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The youth in Kikuyu Sub County were treated to an eye opening experience during a seminar on Alcohol and Substance Abuse which was held at Lusengeti Social Hall on 9^th June 2017. The seminar was held under the DKA funded project Positive Masculinities: Working with young men to combat Gender Based Violence in Kiambu County, Kenya”.  This was against the backdrop of the  prevalence of this vice among the soccer players and fans in the Sub County. According to the soccer team leaders, this is a problem that is threatening to wipe out a whole generation of youth. In addition, it is a major contributing factor to the numerous cases of violence, both general and gender based as well as high crime rates in the Sub County. Most of the 55 young men who attended the seminar easily identified with the experiences described by the facilitator who is himself a young recovering addict. The youth appreciated the fact that for once, someone was not condemning or stigmatizing them but instead acknowledged and understood the challenges they were going through as they tried to get out of a problem that the society does not understand. It was particularly helpful for them to learn that their inability to get out of the addictions they were battling with was not a reflection of weakness on their part. They realized that they needed professional help and they called on CEEC to follow up with more initiatives that would help them reclaim their lives again.

The project Youth and Governance: Enhancing Youth Participation in the 2017 General Election through the Sauti Mtaani Platform within Nairobi County, entered the pre-election phase in 2017. This phase aimed at helping the youth make informed choices during the August 8^th General Election by facilitating engagement between them and MCA aspirants through the Sauti Mtaani platform. To ensure they understood how the platform works, a total of 23 MCA Aspirants were taken through an induction process in May and June 2017. The induction process included the rationale behind the project and a practical step by step demonstration of how the Sauti Mtaani platform works. The aspirants lauded the platform as a very innovative and effective way of complementing their efforts of reaching a huge segment of the electorate. They all agreed that this is a platform that would help them easily articulate their agenda for the youth while at the same time saving them a lot of time and money since they did not have to organize physical meetings.

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On 4^th June 2017, the Gicharani Stadium in Karai Ward was packed with an excited crowd which had come to cheer on their teams as they battled it out for the CEEC sponsored Gender Champions against Gender Based Violence cup. This was under the DKA Austria funded project Positive Masculinities Project Working with young men to combat Gender Based Violence in Kiambu County, Kenya”. The bonanza was a culmination of tournaments which ran between February and June 2017 in the five wards in the Sub County namely Kikuyu, Karai, Kinoo, Sigona and Nachu. It brought together the two top teams per ward and attracted over 600 soccer fans. The fans cheered their teams while chanting “Say No to Gender based Violence!” a slogan that was visible on the football jerseys worn by the players and banners hung around the field. The message was loud and clear – violence in all its forms is unacceptable at all levels of society. With the general elections only two months away, the youth were implored to maintain peace in their homes, within their teams and in the community. Maybe with home ground advantage, Homeboys FC from Karai Ward were declared the 2017 Champions against Gender based Violence after beating Barcelona FC from Nachu Ward in a penalty shoot-out. The winning team got a trophy and a set of uniforms, No. 2 got a set of uniforms, Nos. 3 and 4 got shin guards while Nos. 5-10 received soccer balls. The methodology of using an activity that is very popular with the youth, soccer, has proved very effective in getting the message across while at the same time nurturing talent.

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On 9th April 2017, CEEC supported six young men from Karai Ward, Kikuyu Sub County to hold a Positive Masculinities tournament in Gicharani Primary School. The six were part of a team that went through a “Positive Masculinities” training from 31st January to 3rd February 2017 under the DKA Austria supported project “Working with Young men to Combat gender Based Violence. The tournament brought together 17 teams and over 200 fans and it provided an opportunity for the trainees to spread the message of positive masculinities. The ward is infamous for violence generally and therefore the message did not focus on gender based violence only but violence in general. The trainees appealed to their peers to embrace a masculinity that seeks to resolve all forms of conflict non-violently including within and between their teams. The two top teams were given uniforms and balls and the six teams that made it to the quarter-finals got a soccer ball each.

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The fight against Gender Based Violence in Kikuyu Sub County got a boost on Sunday the 9^th of April 2017, when young men from Kinoo Ward chose to spread the message through a soccer tournament at Kinoo Primary School. The tournament organizers were part of a Positive Masculinities training conducted under a DKA Austria funded project “Working with young men to combat Gender Based Violence”. The tournament attracted 12 teams, four of which proceeded to the semi-finals. The eight teams that made it to the quarter-finals were awarded with a soccer ball each, while the two that emerged winners from the semi-final matches were each awarded a set of uniforms in addition to the balls. These two teams also got a direct ticket to participate in the Kikuyu Sub-county Tournament to be held at a later date. The trainees and CEEC used the tournament to sensitize over 250 players, fans and other spectators on the need to embrace and foster positive masculinities in order to combat gender based violence.

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On 2nd April 2017, the community turned up in large numbers at Kanyanjara grounds to cheer on their own in a tournament organized by youth from Sigona Ward to urge young men to embrace positive masculinities in a bid to combat the prevailing Gender Based Violence. The organizers of the tournament had undergone a Positive Masculinities training under the DKA Austria supported project “Positive Masculinities – Working with Young Men to combat Gender Based Violence in Kikuyu Sub County. The tournament was a culmination of a league that begun in March and saw all the 6 teams in the ward sweat it off for the top positions. The theme of the day was “Who is a real man?” The fans and players were in agreement that a real man takes responsibility, takes care of himself and others, respects others and avoids violence. To drive the point home, the message was reinforced by the slogan “mwanaume sio vita” meaning that the true mark of manhood is not violence. CEEC’s trainees from the ward shared what they had learnt during the training by creating awareness on gender and emphasizing that a peaceful society is one where both men and women respect each other. They implored parents to raise their children with the knowledge that gender is socially learnt and therefore can be unlearnt. Nderi Tarino and Kanyanjara FC were the top two teams who received football jerseys and balls and the remaining 4 teams received balls.

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The month of February saw the continuation of the second mass voter registration exercise that officially came to a close on Sunday, 19^th February 2017. The exercise saw an increase in the number of young people who have registered, thanks to the concerted efforts of leaders who have been traversing the country sensitizing the public. The Korogocho ward MCA Maxwell Ochar is one such leader who toured Ngomongo area on 4^th February 2017 urging his constituents and particularly the youth to register. He also visited the mural that was put up on the perimeter wall of Ngunyumu Primary School in Ngomongo, and urged Boda Boda operators and other young people who work and reside in the area to make use of the Sauti Mtaani platform in order to have their voice heard.

The Umoja 2 Sauti Mtaani ambassadors are keeping Sauti Mtaani alive. Some of the activities the team, led by their MCA Kingsley Odida are using to do this are clean ups and sports. During the month of February 2017, the team held one such clean-up and a basketball clinic. These events were used to raise awareness about the Sauti Mtaani platform among the youth. In addition to uniforms that the MCA gave to basketball teams, about 100 youth also got Sauti Mtaani branded T-shirts and wrist bands.

From 31^st January to 3^rd February, CEEC conducted a Positive Masculinities training for 26 Kikuyu Sub-County Soccer Coaches and Managers at Victoria House, Kikuyu. The training was conducted under the DKA Austria supported project Working with Young men to Combat gender Based Violence. The participants were drawn from the five wards in Kikuyu Sub County namely, Kikuyu, Sigona, Kinoo and Karai.

After the training, trainees from Nachu ward organized a tournament on Sunday 19^th February, 2017 which took place at Lusengetti Stadium. The aim of the tournament which had 20 participating teams and more than 200 fans was to spread the message of embracing positive masculinities as a way of combating gender based violence. Two teams, Barcelona FC and Umoja FC qualified to participate in the Sub-County championship which will bring two teams from each of the five wards together. The two top teams got a set of uniforms and a soccer ball each while teams number 1 to 6 got a soccer ball each. In total, over 400 young men were reached with awareness.