The ABEDEV’s approach to its work is constituted by four (4) main features indicated below:
ABEDEV's core values constitute our organisation’s deeply held beliefs and inform our organisational culture. They are the glue that holds us together as members of our voluntary association. They are:
a. Volunteerism as a means of empowering ordinary people, especially the youth.
b. Intolerance for all forms of human-generated misery.
c. Solidarity with the powerless, excluded and underprivileged.
d. Love for justice.
e. Integrity, honesty and accountability.
f. A ‘can-do’ attitude in the face of challenges and obstacles.
All members of ABENENGO FOR DEVELOPMENT are volunteers. We contribute to the organisation’s work either by directly funding its activities or by making in-kind contributions. We categorise our volunteers into three types to get the best out of the approach.
These are youth volunteers (YoVs), community volunteers (CoVs) and friends of the Youth in Busia (FoYB). Youth volunteers are constituted by youth (between the ages of 18 and 35 years) members of ABENENGO FOR DEVELOPMENT. Community volunteers are constituted by non-youth (above 35 years) members of the organisation who hail from Busia County. Friends of Youth in Busia consist of any willing contributors - both individuals and corporate entities - to our mission, objectives and activities but who do not necessarily hail from Busia County.
WE deliberately nurture youth into leadership through the Youth Leadership Structure (YLS). The YLS is a 3-tier structure which ABENENGO FOR DEVELOPMENT uses primarily for effective engagement and nurturing of youth into leadership. It has platforms called Youth Discussion Groups (YDGs) at the village, ward and constituency levels, which are organised as follows:
a). The Village Youth Discussion Group (VYDG): formed at the village administrative unit as defined under Kenya’s devolved government, this group elects a Village Youth Champion, a Village Youth Secretary and a Village Youth Whip. The Village Youth Champion leads the VYDG and represents it in the corresponding Ward Youth Discussion Group (WYDG). The Village Youth Secretary and the Village Youth Whip keep records and coordinate activities of the VYDG respectively. The main role of the VYDG is to recruit youth into the VYDG and to mobilise them to carry out activities as requested by the Organisation.
b). The Ward Youth Discussion Group (WYDG): this is constituted by Village Youth Champions elected in the VYDGs to represent village administrative units. There is a total of 6 WYDGs, consisting of 4 wards corresponding to the 4 ward administrative units (Nangina, Nambuku-Namboboto, Ageng’a-Nanguba and Bwiri) in Samia subcounty, 1 Youth with Disability Ward constituted by youth with disability in Samia subcounty and 1 Diaspora Ward representing youth who are natives of Samia subcounty, but who live outside the subcounty. Each WYDG elects a Ward Youth Champion (also known as the Youth MCA), the Ward Youth Secretary and the Ward Youth Whip. The Ward Youth Champion leads the WYDG and represents it in the Constituency Youth Discussion Group (CYDG). The Ward Youth Secretary and the Ward Youth Whip keep records and coordinate WYDG activities respectively. The main role of the WYDG is to carry out the activities of the Organisation as guided by the Executive Board and the Secretariat.
c). The Constituency Youth Discussion Group (CYDG): this is constituted by Ward Youth Champions/Youth MCAs elected by WYDGs to represent ward administrative units. The CYDG elects a Youth Constituency Champion (also called Youth MP), the Constituency Youth Secretary and the Constituency Youth Whip. The Constituency Youth Champion is the leader of the YLS across the entire constituency and represents the youth in the Organisation’s Executive Board. The Constituency Youth Secretary is responsible for keeping records of the CYDG and coordinating activities and reporting by other secretaries across the YLS. The Constituency Youth Whip is responsible for coordinating activities of the CYDG and working with other whips across the YLS to achieve the Organisation’s objectives. The main role of the CYDG is to undertake advocacy activities on behalf of the youth across Samia Sub-County. Across all three levels, the role of the YDGs is to recruit and mobilise youth, engage them in activities indicated in the four Clusters of Action, and represent youth at all levels of governance, including within the organisation’s Executive Board and Secretariat.
Since our delivery capacity is mostly composed of volunteers rather than salaried project staff, our activities are not projectized. Instead, they are clustered into flexible actions. This provides our volunteers with the flexibility to undertake a broad expanse of activities without restrictions that would come with a project approach.
The volunteers are expected to exercise freedom, creativity and innovativeness in undertaking the activities, only ensuring that they fit within the scheme of our 4 clusters of action. In essence, no one follows up and supervises our volunteers. The volunteers are self-driven individuals taking own initiatives to respond to their own circumstances. They only inform us, and we support them for quality control and compliance to our vision and strategic objectives.
The cluster approach also allows our organisation the flexibility required to work with as many volunteers, stakeholders and partners as possible in pursuit of our core objective of transforming Busia County into a place of hope and opportunity for the youth and ordinary residents.