FEMNET | Meaningful Engagement for Transformative Action (META)

The Meaningful Engagement – Transformative Action (META)for Structured Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Dialogue in Kenya is a joint initiative by African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), the Coalition for Sustainable Development (SDGs Kenya Forum) and Stitching Women Engage for a Common Future International (WECF) with support from the European Union Delegation (EUD) in Kenya. The action is designed to enhance Kenyan civil society organizations’ capacity for accountability, good governance, and inclusive development, and provide institutional platforms for their active involvement in EU-Kenya cooperation between 2024-2027. In specific, the action seeks to;

Improve and strengthen structured, inclusive and regular dialogue between Kenyan civil society actors, local authorities and the EU, facilitating meaningful and sustained engagement.
Enhance the skills, knowledge, and resources of Kenyan civil society actors including youth and women rights organizations to address common development priorities and promote effective governance.
Increase information sharing, joint planning, and implementation of initiatives among Kenyan civil society actors to maximize the impact of EU-Kenya cooperation.

The action contains two main components: The Inclusive Dialogue Mechanism and the European Union Youth Sounding Board

The Inclusive Dialogue Mechanism

The Inclusive Dialogue Mechanism is a central component of META that aims to coordinate and foster periodic dialogue between Kenyan Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the European Union Delegation to Kenya (EUD). The dialogue mechanism focuses on the priority areas of the EU’s cooperation with Kenya. Members of the Inclusive Dialogue Mechanism are organized into three working groups.

Green Transition
Global Gateway (Human -Centered Digitalization)
Governance, Peace, and Security

Additionally, the mechanism addresses cross-cutting themes:

Women and Youth Engagement
CSOs Enabling Environment and Human Rights (eg. PBO Act).

Each group has the flexibility to narrow down the discussions to more specific priorities within their working groups. For example, under the Governance, Peace and Security, the working group can choose to focus on transparency and accountability for the first year.

The Inclusive Dialogue Mechanism is guided by the EU roadmap for engagement with civil society in Kenya for the period 2022-2025. This roadmap seeks to initiate a formalized, structured dialogue between the EU and Kenyan civil society to ensure a coherent approach to EU engagement with CSOs. The structured dialogue aims to:

Allow CSOs to strengthen their capacities and meaningfully contribute to the design and monitoring of EU’s initiatives
Enable more coordinated engagement between the EU and its member states
Promote enhanced cooperation between Kenyan & EU CSOs
Monitor and regularly report on the realization of the EU roadmap for engagement with CSOs

EU Youth Sounding Board - Kenya

The Youth Sounding Board (YSB) is a platform established under the Meaningful Engagement – Transformative Action (META) for Structured CSO Dialogue action in Kenya. The action is implemented by a consortium led by African Women’s Communication and Development Network (FEMNET) in partnership with the Coalition for Sustainable Development (SDGs Kenya Forum) and Women Engage For a Common Future (WECF) with support from the European Union.

The YSB consists of 15 diverse young people aged 18-30 years representing the six regional economic blocks in Kenya. Specifically, the YSB is representative, and diverse in terms of ethnicity, tribe, sex and sexual orientation, age, gender, geographical location, disability etc. The board includes the global EU Youth Sounding Board representative from Kenya who serves as an advisor in the board.

The board’s establishment was done through a consultative, transparent and competitive process including vetting applicants.

The YSB is a platform for youth to engage in inclusive dialogue on the EU-Kenya partnership and advise the action on program implementation. In addition, the YSB will advise the EU Delegation in Kenya to effectively integrate the voices and perspectives of Kenyan youth into EU programming to ensure that policies reflect the realities and aspirations of young people in all their diversity.