Article 260 of the Kenyan constitution defines youth as persons between 18 and 35 years and who, according to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2019, comprise 75% of the Kenyan population. The United Nations defines Youth as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. Under the African Youth Charter a Youth is a person between 15 and 35 years. They are a critical bloc that cannot be ignored in the electoral processes and general Kenyan political dynamics.

Being a member of the United Nations and by implication a party to various human rights instruments, Kenya supports various treaties and instruments that support youth empowerment. The central most of these instruments is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1945. Other instruments include the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Social Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR), the African Youth Charter (AYC) among others.

Broadly, Kenya has well developed constitutional and legislative frameworks to support the realization of youth rights in the political, economic and social cultural spheres. The highlights in this report seek to highlight the level of execution of youth-based initiatives in different sectors.