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The organisers of the annual Mr and Miss Kibera Leadership Contest are happy that the event has illustrated its unique approach to beauty pageantry as a powerful platform for the young to engage and share experiences.

They said this as they geared up for the upcoming ninth edition of the event, which is set go down this Saturday at the Kibera Primary School in Nairobi, as part of the Amani Festival 2019.

Running under the theme: ‘Reimaging Beauty as a Tool for Stimulating Change’, it seeks to demystify beauty pageants, which have traditionally been seen to revolve around beauty and competition.

“Beauty is a tool that can be tapped to revolutionise and stimulate change in the community by offering a platform to engage on contemporary issues affecting the community,” says Benson Ouma, one of the organisers.

This year’s event seeks to provide a rallying platform for young people in Kibera to mobilise, organise and engage in the ongoing national debate against corruption, sexual and gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health rights, unemployment, extra-judicial killings and counter violent extremism in the country.

“The pageant is a platform for nurturing young people’s agency for civic engagement, information sharing and leadership development and positive change,” adds Ouma.

Mr and Miss Kibera targets youth aged between 18 and 24 and must have not participated in the previous contests. The youth will be taken through an experiential learning process to expose them to challenges faced by the youth within the community and activate them to develop liking for a social course.