A woman with a face mask walks past graffiti that promotes hand washing and wearing face masks as preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Kibera, Nairobi, on Aug 13, 2020. (SIMON MAINA / AFP)

It had taken Michael Njau two years to build a name as a photographer of repute in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. The young man says he started small but had built a name as an events photographer who covered weddings and parties as well as social and corporate gatherings.

The Kazi Mtaani program is geared at integrating jobless Kenyans in urban hygiene and sanitation works across informal settlements

However, with pandemic restrictions bringing a halt to gatherings and events, Njau found himself out of business and with reduced income.

"The closure of clubs and restrictions on events has eaten away a huge chunk of our market. In my business, for instance, I had been planning to expand by buying equipment like lenses which don't come cheap, but with no business such plans are put on hold."

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Njau is a beneficiary of the Kazi Mtaani program, a government program launched early this year and funded by the World Bank, which aims to give young people a source of income. The program is geared at integrating jobless Kenyans in urban hygiene and sanitation works across informal settlements.

The first phase ran between April and July as a pilot program and focused on select settlements in eight counties. Following the success of the first phase, the government launched a second phase in July.

When he learnt about the program, Njau did not waste time enrolling and he is currently one of the team leaders of a cluster of 20 young people working in Nairobi's Umoja Estate.

Effective initiative

"I find the Kazi Mtaani program to be a good initiative because it has enabled me to substitute my income. Most of us currently working here would have been idle at home were it not for the program,"Njau said.

While announcing the commencement of the second phase in July, Charles Hinga, Kenya's principal secretary in the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that the program will see more than 270,000 Kenyans engaged in more community and infrastructure development projects.

"The objective of the Kazi Mtaani program is to provide a form of social protection for workers whose prospects for daily or casual work have been disrupted by the containment policies put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. This benefit cannot be overlooked as is it essential to the resilience of informal settlement dwellers during this time and after," Hinga said.

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According to Njau, the program has been a blessing in more than one ways. In addition to giving many residents some income, the program has been a good deterrent from crime and delinquent behavior because most of those engaged have either lost their jobs or are at home due to school closures and form a very vulnerable group.