Women and youth are central to Somalia’s recovery, peacebuilding, and long-term development, yet they continue to face significant barriers due to widespread poverty, unemployment, displacement, insecurity, and deeply rooted social norms. Prolonged conflict and recurring humanitarian crises have disproportionately affected women and young people, limiting their access to education, livelihoods, and leadership opportunities. KPHF’s Women and Youth Empowerment programs are designed to address these challenges by strengthening economic participation, leadership capacity, and social cohesion at community level.

For women, KPHF supports vocational skills training and income-generating activities tailored to local market opportunities, including small-scale trade, agriculture-related enterprises, tailoring, food processing, and service-based businesses. Women are supported to access savings and credit schemes such as Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), which enhance financial inclusion, self-reliance, and household resilience. Women-led groups and cooperatives are strengthened to improve entrepreneurship, collective bargaining power, and market access. In parallel, gender equality awareness campaigns engage men, elders, religious leaders, and community influencers to address harmful gender norms, promote shared decision-making, and prevent gender-based discrimination and violence.

Youth empowerment initiatives focus on improving employability, entrepreneurship, and positive civic engagement. KPHF provides market-relevant vocational training, apprenticeship opportunities, mentorship, and start-up support to enable young people to secure sustainable livelihoods. Life skills training equips youth with leadership, communication, conflict resolution, and financial literacy skills. Youth are actively engaged in peacebuilding, environmental conservation, disaster risk reduction, and community service activities that promote social cohesion and civic responsibility.

Special focus is placed on young women, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and marginalized youth to ensure inclusive participation. By creating safe and supportive platforms for engagement and leadership, KPHF enables women and youth to meaningfully participate in community decision-making processes. Through these integrated interventions, KPHF nurtures a generation of empowered women and youth who contribute to stability, resilience, and sustainable development across Somalia.