United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is holding a youth conference in Nairobi to dialogue and generate solutions to corruption.

The three-day meeting, which ends on Friday, is being attended by diplomats and youth representatives from all the 47 counties.

Participants have focused on inclusion youth from vulnerable communities including those from informal residential neighborhoods such as Kibera.

Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, the Director General of United Nations Office at Nairobi Hanna Tetteh noted that, there is a devastating negative impact of corruption in the achievement of SDGs 16, which aims at promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.

She said every shilling lost to corruption denies a Kenyan youth the ability to rise above the poverty line.

The Youth Workshop will serve as the launch of UNODC-ROEA’s Regional Youth Programme which aims to serve as a valuable resource for youth integration into leadership opportunities and anti-corruption initiatives, supporting the Sustainable Development Goals and Vision 2030.

According to UNODC Eastern Africa Regional Representative Dr Amado Philip De Andres, Kenya, which is endowed with vast opportunities, is lagging behind because of failure to look at the bigger picture, adding the war on corruption can only succeed if it tackled from the roots.

“If we invest more in top notch knowledge from the lower level all the way to upper academic level, get the best technology from around the world then employer ability will increase,” he said.

During the event, youths that have been rehabilitated from drugs and crime shared their experiences and how they overcame addiction.

Credit Bank will provide financial support for the  best entrepreneurial ideas at the end of the conference.

The conference highlighted the important role that art, culture and sports can play in the empowerment of youth and their communities, especially through promoting social inclusion and deterring crime.