President William Ruto has today launched the National Climate Resilience Programme dubbed ‘ClimateWorX Mtaani’ which aims to create job opportunities for 200,000 youth countrywide involved in environmental projects in their communities.
The initiative also seeks to enhance the live ability of Kenya’s cities through the greening of urban spaces and cleaning and rejuvenation of rivers around them.
“ClimateWorX is a powerful, incisive and transformative intervention aimed at achieving ecological restoration while maintaining public infrastructure and housing through labour-intensive and sustainable public works.” The president said during the launch.
He spoke in Korogocho when he launched the program along the heavily polluted Nairobi River.
He said the first phase of ClimateWorX in Nairobi County will officially begin on October 1, 2024, with 20,000 youth being on boarded.
This will complement and expand the efforts of Komp Green Youths, an environmental conservation group, in partnership with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), to clean up the Nairobi River.
Later, within a month, the initiative will be rolled out in Kenya’s other cities; Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Nakuru.
This will see an additional 40,000 youth engaged in the project, with 10,000 of them allocated to other areas of Nairobi starting in early November.
The project will be rolled out across all the other counties in the country by December, bringing on board another 139, 902 young people.
“Our vision for ClimateWorX is to activate talent and capability in community service, entrepreneurship, employment and further education.” Ruto added.
He assured that the ClimateWorX opportunities will be given to all Kenyans equally without any preferences.
ClimateWorX further aims to eliminate illegal dumping of solid waste and discharge of effluent in urban areas and make communities resilient to adverse effects of climate change.
The president directed responsible agencies to fully enforce waste management laws, without exception, to protect the environment.
He invited the private sector and development partners to partner with the government to make the project a success.
At the same time, the President said the government will provide 40,000 social housing units to persons who were displaced from riparian areas by the El Nino rains, for which they will pay only KSh3,000 in monthly rent.
Among the leaders present at the event include Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja, Cabinet Secretaries, members of the diplomatic corps, and partners in the ClimateWorX project.
