Project Title:

ACTIVE CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ZAMBIA

Submitted to:

Global Giving project leader community

Project Duration:One Year

Contact Person:

Mr. Crissy Mupuchi

Youth Vision Zambia

JK Office Complex, Suites 12 & 13,

PO Box 630300,Hospital Road

Choma, Zambia 10101

Tel: +260213 220062

Cell: +260966 436523

Email:

Http//

Executive Summary

In Zambia, Political and Democratic history has been described as two steps forward and two steps backward. While there are many examples to show how the country has achieved considerable democratic gains, there are also many instances to demonstrate how some of these gains have been lost along the way. What is not disputable in this political gymnastics, is that the ordinary citizens have in most cases been by and large remained political spectators quietly suffering the agony of mis-handling of democratic principles enshrined in our constitution and its ugly consequences on the political, economic, social and cultural livelihood of the majority of its citizens.

The Active Youth Citizens for a Better Zambia Project is a youth led nonpartisan effort to registeryoung people and get them to the polls on Election Days, the projectis a Youth Vision Zambia initiative that is prepared to engage youth into national decision-making processes. The organisationunder this one year project therefore, aims to improve the capacity of young people and other key community stakeholders into active participants in their quest to bring about knowledge in service delivery through activities and principles of Democracy, Good governance and Accountability.

The organisation will develop mechanisms to improve flow of information and knowledge to the members, individuals and organizations in terms of technical and managerial skills so that they participate as equal partners in the decision-making and control of resources in the respective community.

It will in addition conduct outreach study and research programmes that assess needs to fasten the achievement of the goals of members, individuals and organizations especially in the grass root areas; and design appropriate intervention of human rights, civic education, political participation and socio – economic - political development among young people as demand responsibility and accountability from leaders.

Lastly, it will develop capacity building programmes to empower members and individuals in line with the assessed needs for each member and Youth Vision Zambia will enable the community to demand for service delivery through agreeable media which educate the community and make leaders and other stakeholders such as the media accountable to the community.

Background information and Problem Statement

Zambia continues to struggle through distressing political, economic and social factors that have been perpetuated by poverty, corruption, under-development and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The challenges brought by these factors give rise to the need for crosscutting and innovative solutions that take into account the role of youth as valued citizens and leaders of the future. Youth Vision Zambia is a youth initiative that is prepared to engage youth into national and international decision-making processes. It also recognizes the importance of empowerment through the provision of leadership, advocacy, research and analysis skills, which are integral to the effective and full participation of youth in Zambia’s general development process. Therefore, Citizen Participation is paramount for the success of democracy and good governance. If the decision making process excludes the masses, one cannot talk of a democracy. For meaningful citizen participation in the politics of their country and, thus, the success of democracy, it is necessary that citizens know their roles and duties in a democracy. Besides this, the task of citizens is to nurture institutions and practices that are compatible with local conditions and conducive to democratic aspirations.

A survey conducted by YVZ found that only 25% of young people aged 15 to 25 believe that things have changed since 1991 revolutionary. Others have argued that young people have little if any interest in sustaining hard-won democracy through elections. This is said to be demonstrated by the low levels of youth registration for the upcoming elections. Politicians berate youth for not realizing the importance of their vote as an instrument for change in the A democratic nation. Commentators speculate that young people lack interest, knowledge and trust in politicians and the issues of governance because politicians and government have failed to address their concerns and engage them on matters that are of concern to them.It is important to locate the issue of youth apathy in Zambia within the context of global trends. Lack of interest in politics, low registration and turn out of young people in elections is an international phenomenon. In the UK only about three in five young people aged 18-25 are on the electoral register. According to a study conducted in 2000 over two fifths of British youth reported that they had “no interest” in politics. In the US Presidential elections of 2000, 42% of 18-25 year olds voted. Another survey found that only 17 percent of American first year college students agreed that it is “essential” or “very important” to influence the political structure.

However these statistics from “established” democracies should not be compared to Zambia without considering the differences in our specific democratic circumstances. Zambia remains a country in transition, and the consolidation of democracy is an ongoing process. The pervasiveness of apathy among our youth should raise pertinent questions about the state of our developing democracy: Firstly, is youth apathy in Zambia and its similarity to apathy among young people in the North, indicative of political normalization, Given the perceptions of youth about change since 1991, and the perceived dishonesty of politicians, as well as the high levels of unemployment and illiteracy among youth, does the low level of participation and interest in politics among our young people reflect ‘apathy’ or is it representative of a conscious withdrawal from politics.

The debate surrounding the concept of ‘youth apathy’ in Zambia needs to be broadened in order to consider these forms of political mobilization and expression. Given our recent past, the disdain for youth seems rejection of formal politics is understandable. However, the conceptual leap required to dismiss these youth as politically apathetic needs to be further interrogated and located within a matrix of political activity beyond the ballot box.

The Organisation

Youth Vision Zambia (YVZ) is a national youth oriented Non Governmental Organisation formally registered with Registrar of Societies in Zambia (Registrar of Societies N0: ORS/102/35/3543) and is a member of the Zambia National Youth Development Council (NYDC registration N0: ZNYDC 00239). The organization strives to promote, defend and advocate social inclusiveness and a healthy lifestyle among Zambian youth and to empower them to make free and informed choices on matters relating to their political participation and rights. Youth Vision Zambia as a recognized Zambian civil society organization champions the promotion of human rights for youth in Zambia and has demonstrated its ability as an organisation through the successful implementation of projects and programs in relation to its mandate and promotion of gender equality and policy change. As an organization, Youth Vision Zambia relies on intimate knowledge of our project sites and groups, and also of its socio - economic and political environment.

Based on respect and tolerance towards individual freedom of choice, Youth Vision Zambia equips individuals with the necessary knowledge and skills to act as a knowledge and resource base to professionals and the public at large. Youth Vision Zambia’s primary target group is young people between the age of 10 and 35, and the secondary target group is comprised of parents, service providers, and policy and decision makers. As a youth organization in a young country, YVZ is superbly placed to address and interact with the young population and the environment they move in. The organisation is an influential future actor in Zambia’s policies direction and understands the societal importance of promoting youth health and rights. Youth Vision Zambia represents, and is familiar with, the target group – Zambian youth – and also knows the cultural, political and socio-economic barriers and possibilities for the promotion of transparence and good Governance and young people’s health and rights.

Project Justification

Young people between the ages of 15 and 29 constitute more than 50 per cent of the total Zambia’s population. Youth and children together, including all those aged 24 years and below, account for nearly 67 per cent of the Zambia's population. Young people face many challenges today including Tokenized as a result of high levels of Unemployment, the brut of HIV/AIDS and most importantly lack of youth participation in governance and decision-making. In the build to General Elections the concept of ‘youth apathy’ and youth participation has featured prominently in the national discourse and media discussion around voter registration and participation in the elections. The notion of Good governance is located within the broad principles that all stakeholders' participation is required in Decision- making and Governance. In Zambia, Youth constitute a majority of electoral votes; however, the legislative parliaments have less than one (1) percent youth participation as MP's. Young people continue to be subdued and relegated to Youth wing of political parties and have been used as agents to amass political power,

Access to services disproportionately affects already marginalized groups in society; the groups lack human rights protection; as well as economic and social power. These groups include among others; women, the youth, children, the physically challenged, sexual minorities etc.Youth Vision Zambia believes that in order to have equal access to services and a just society where no one is discriminated against despite their status or standing in the society there is need for development practioners to use a right based approach in their work .We believe that to have a society that is fair and just without any individual being marginalized there is need to ensure that each individual’s rights are protected. We see this project as an opportunity to help marginalized groups within our communities have equal access to service and information and further realize their potential to rightfully claim what they are entitled to and the following four (4) categories are critical and need to be considered:

1) Social empowerment – This will help to provide the skills and opportunities for marginalized groups to organize and use their collective power to advocate for justice, fairness and equity on behalf of themselves and others.

2) Economic empowerment – This will give them the ability to generate income, own and control assets, access and use credit. They will realize greater choices in jobs and occupations and demand access to essential services for themselves, their families and the communities they represent.

3) Political empowerment – This will enable marginalized groups to successfully influence decision-makers, through their advocacy of fairer and appropriate allocation of resources.

4) Educational empowerment – This will provide numerous tangible benefits for themselves and their families, which will be passed onto future generations.

Project Goal

To increase youth Vote and participation in the coming elections through mobilization and meaningful engagement

Project Objectives

The Active Citizens for a Better Zambia Project will be implemented in Zambia under the following objectives;

  • Increasing political and civic participation among young people by promoting diverse and sustainable community based local coalitions that coordinate voter registration and mobilize get-out-to-vote efforts,
  • Building inclusive, accountable and responsive government by providing forums for candidates to reach out to young audiences, and
  • Increasing public awareness about the value of participation in democracy thorough the electoral process.

Strategies

The Active Youth Citizens for a Better Zambia Project is a youth led nonpartisan effort to registeryoung people and get them to the polls on Election Days. We will do this work for two reasons. First, we believe democracy is strongest when citizens participate and for too long, young people haven’t been full participants. Second, we believe the best way to get political leaders to pay attention to young people and their issues is to demonstrate that young people are a viable constituency that can be mobilized using tried and true techniques. Youth Vision Zambia will use comprehensive pro-social campaign to inform young adults about the political process, Choice and voice their most urgent political concerns, and motivate them to register as voters. YVZ recognizes the importance of voter registration as one of the key process which determines the turn-out at the pulling stations to vote. Youth Vision will use three main projects to help young adult to register and vote.

Project Activities

  • Make a responsible choice for my Generation register and vote:Make a responsible choice for my Generation register and vote, is a road show campaign a long the line of rail to mobilize new votes from urban. This will be done through road shows, with Zambia’s Musicians and celebrities. The idea is to bring young people together near polling stations to meet there musicians, who will be demonstrate and educate them on the importance of registering as voter and the importance of voting. Youth concerns will be addressed
  • Choose or Lose: Youth Television Round Table:Youth Television Round Table: Choose or lose is a live phone-in television program which will bring together youth leaders to address youth concerns and the importance of youth to register and vote. The program will also compel leading Presidential candidates to address youth concerns, and how there are organizing young adults to register and vote. The program will be catalyzed by entertainment to attract young people and will also be used as a platform to promote voter process among young people. Choose or lose will give young people unprecedented voice this election season.
  • New Vote –Project Information, Education and Communication Materials: For Active youth Citizens for better Zambia Project to be implemented effectively a well tailored Information, Education and communication Materials targeted to the young people needs to be developed. This will assist in disseminating the voter processes information, motivating young people to vote and promoting the electoral oriented activities. This will be anchored by a massive grassroots effort to distribute the materials.

Proposed Project Outputs

Increased youth participation in electoral and voter process, confidence and leadership skills while also providing avenues to use them in real situations as agents of change. In a country where poverty, unemployment and under-employment and HIV/AIDS have set the stage for collapse of nation, those real situations are now.

Proposed Outcomes:

  • Youth empowered with knowledge and skills on leadership as well as advocacy;
  • Youth able to analyse and influence the electoral process
  • Effective national advocacy campaigns that are lead by youth and youth-adult partnerships in Zambia;
  • Voices of youth will be valued at all levels in the planning and implementation of policies and programmes
  • A project report that will be done in a format that will be used for future elections as a tool for further development;
  • An increasing number of young people registered as voters.

Means of Verifications

Project verification, monitoring and evaluation will be done within the framework of the organization structure. The Executive Director will be responsible for the overall co-ordination of the project and monitoring of the implementation of the activities. The Active Citizens for a Better ZambiaProject will be evaluated on the development of a report that serves as a tool to build capacity of Zambia young people and its outreach to attract youth voters from across Country. Youth Vision Zambia will institute a full activity-by-activity report and submit a full report to the funding organization a month after the end of the project.

Project Logical Framework

Goal / Verifiable Indicators / Means of Verification / Risk & assumptions
To increase youth Vote and participation in the coming elections /
  • Number of Youth participant in general election process
  • Number of youth registered as voters
  • Number of youth turning out at polling stations
/
  • Electoral Commission reports and statistics
  • Elections observers reports
  • Number of youth MPs
  • Newspaper Reports
  • Projects report
/
  • Political and Cultural Barriers to increased youth Participation
  • Ruling party influence in running the media and electoral process
  • Support from stakeholders

Objectives
  1. Increasing political and civic participation among young people by promoting diverse and sustainable community based local coalitions that coordinate voter registration and mobilize get-out-to-vote efforts,
  1. Building inclusive, accountable and responsive government by providing forums for candidates to reach out to young audiences, and
  1. Increasing public awareness about the value of participation in democracy thorough the electoral process.
/
  • Positive dialogue among youth and politicians.
  • Youth seeking to vote
Multi-sectoral involvement in a youth led initiatives
  • Youth involvement in the buildup of elections
  • Open and positive dialogue between youth, public and politicians
/
  • Project reports
  • number of youth registered as voters
  • Election observers reports
  • Number of youth members of Parliaments
  • Newspaper Reports
  • Evaluation of Projects activities
  • Electoral Commission reports and statistics
/
  • Good responses to IEC messages
  • Public debate on youth involvement in the political agendas
  • media interference by the ruling party
  • good response by young people to interpret the electoral process

Input/activities
  1. Make a responsible choice for my Generation register and vote
  2. Youth Television Round Table: Choose or Lose
  3. New Voters Information, Education and Communication Materials
/
  • Road show conducted
  • Youth involved in the electoral process
  • Television program produced
  • Programs aired
  • IEC materials produced and translated in local languages
  • IEC distributed
  • Increased youth voices
  • Youth involvement and participation
/
  • Number of road shows conducted
  • Number of youth reached
  • Number of youth registered as voters
  • Activity report
  • TV program produced and aired
  • number of callers and contributions from the public
  • View ship of the program
  • Number of IEC messages pre-tested and translated.
  • Number and type of IEC materials printed and distributed.
/
  • Increased number of youth registered as voters
  • Missed opportunity to mobilize more youth due to short period of voter registration
  • Few youth with National Registration Cards
  • Complex of youth challenges and issues to be addressed
  • Resistance from politicians
  • Radical views from young people
  • Censorship from the media

Output/results

1.Youth empowered with knowledge and skills on leadership as well as advocacy;