Make dignity of poor people a priority in New Year

 

Philosopher Aristotle once said that dignity does not exist in possessing honours, but in deserving them.
As we begin 2026, I celebrate 2025 as the year when ‘dignity’ was lived by communities across the country. They defied odds to make their voices heard loud and clear. The momentum must continue in 2026.

Dignity is often spoken about as an abstract ideal. But critically speaking, dignity is manifested when communities speak for themselves rather than being spoken for by other parties. In essence, dignity in action is when solutions are shaped by lived experiences. And dignity in collective power is when people come together not as beneficiaries of charity, but as architects of change.

During the years of my charity work, I have always believed that progress does not begin with programmes, it begins with trust. When people are seen, heard and respected, they organise. They advocate. They lead. In 2025, that belief came alive across Kenya in ways that were both humbling and historic.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the extraordinary momentum of youth organising. Through more than 41,000 community forums, more than 1.5 million young people raised their voices and demanded accountability.

This was not symbolic participation; it was civic leadership. These young organisers clamoured for the removal of National ID fees, a seemingly technical policy shift that carries enormous implications for dignity, job access, and civic inclusion for millions of Kenyans.

Across counties, the Youth Agenda translated grassroots priorities into policy commitments. Budget allocations for youth and women’s programmes were given the necessary attention. Mental health was included within the Universal Health Coverage framework. These wins matter because they prove what happens when youths are trusted not just to mobilise, but to govern.

But dignity cannot live in policy alone. It must be experienced in the daily lives of every struggling Kenyan out there. That is why as a country, both the private and public sectors must scale essential services this year, ensuring that dignity is not a privilege, but a guarantee.

In a country where youth unemployment has climbed to 67 per cent, we have surpassed 91,000 young people placed in dignified work. These are not temporary fixes. They are pathways to stability, agency and self-worth. In rural Kenya, farmers who were supported with drought-resistant seeds through our programmes expanded locally led climate solutions, recognising that climate resilience begins with those who know the land best.

And in Kibera, where Shofco was born, we moved closer to a milestone once thought impossible. Our urban water system hopes to become the first licensed water company serving an informal settlement in Kenya, extending clean, affordable water to more than 100,000 households.

There’s hope. Real hope. The kind that comes from seeing solutions rise from the ground up, shaped by trust and sustained by collective action. Together, we must feel hope in the policies shifting, the systems changing, and the confidence of communities claiming their power.

This is what lasting change looks like, not imposed, but owned.

The writer is SHOFCO’s founder and the 2025 UN Nelson Mandela Prize Laureate