News and Ideas (15)
Meet Vision Africa: CatalyzingCitizensAgency #lamTheCitizen
Planting bananas in potholes. This symbolic and comic campaign by Vision Africa made a splash not only on Twitter, but in the city of Kadoma as well - the potholes were filled the very same day by city officials. Vision Africa is counting on this type of innovation to encourage young people in Kadoma City to get involved in local governance and be a part of improving their communities. Vision Africa’s latest program #IamTheCitizen is taking a step further to equip “youth….[to] be a part of the solution not the problem” Program Coordinator, Ellaine Manyere said in a local story in the Statesman Zimbabwe newspaper. “It is high time we work as the youth to build the nation we want”. This kind of innovation, in parternship with ZimbabweAlliance, will not only get young people registering to vote, but voting, running for public office and becoming the co-creators of solutions to their communities’ challenges.
Meet Savanna Trust: Transforming Communities Through the Arts
http://www.savannatrust.com
- What is the role of citizens in ensuring good governance?
- How do we respond to the human rights violations, particularly abductions and harassment of human rights defenders and citizens in our communities?
- How do citizens speak to the abuse of state power and resources by politicians?
Savanna Trust’s flagship play “Liberation” is leaving an important footprint on citizen dialogue around issues relating to human rights, governance and democratic participation in Zimbabwe. These are just a few of the discussions happening post performances. The theatrical backdrop invites critical feedback from audience members on these national processes and perspectives on how they can play out in their local communities.
Meet Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA)
http://www.bvtatrust.org
In 2016 BVTA trained over 600 vendors and informal traders on economic and social rights. BVTA has a membership of over 2000 informal traders in 29 Bulawayo metropolitan wards. In parternship with ZimbabweAlliance, BVTA has launched the Vendors’ Voices Project (VVP) to innovatively empower informal traders to effectively speak truth to power through existing informal social infrastructure including Stokvels, vendors investment clubs, house meetings, Community-Based Advocacy Teams (CoMBAT) to hold City Council accountable in 4 wards across Bulawayo. BVTA recently held its an Onsite Digital Age Vendors (ODAV) training, equipping over 50 vendors in digital literacy including citizen and advocacy journalism. VISET and BVTA are also coordinating and working together to strengthen the voice of the informal sector across the country.
