Youth Development Foundation

Taking Power is the main civic education project of YDF which started 2007. It will empower young people in Chipata District to take action on human rights, HIV/AIDS and gender inequality at both the personal and societal level.

Zambia remains one of the world’s poorest countries, but despite the return of multi-party politics in 1991 most young people are disengaged from political routes to solve their problems. Some commentators blame apathy, but YDF believes that by giving this group the knowledge and skills to effect change, they will be empowered to improve their own lives.

The aim of this project is to foster a culture of participation in political life within the young people targeted. To meet this aim young people will be given training in how to set up a YDF club and take action on the most important issues affecting them. There will be workshops in schools on human rights and the importance of participation, setting up a YDF club, HIV/AIDS, and gender. These young people will be brought together for a conference to share skills for effective action on these issues. The skills learnt will then be put into practice with a mass lobby to the government of Zambia on one of the key issues.

By the end of the project YDF aim to have young people regularly taking action in YDF clubs to improve their lives and communities.

Why is this project needed?

Youth participation – People aged under 25 make up more than half of the population of Chipata[i], and if effective democratic governance is to be achieved in Zambia, the participation of this group is imperative. However many young people are unaware of their rights and how to participate effectively in the democratic process. Their participation in political life will hold the government accountable for tackling problems such as the 50% unemployment rate.

HIV/AIDS – Infection rates in Chipata are, at 26.3%, the highest in Zambia due to the movement of people across the borders with Malawi and Mozambique. Young people are disproportionately affected, but below 30% use condoms with non-regular partners and less than one-quarter of those infected are accessing Anti-Retro Viral drugs (ARVs). While the government has committed to providing free ARVs for all, the lack of health infrastructure such as CD4 count machines means that many people are excluded from living positively. Clear messages on protective measures, the importance of getting tested, and the right to live positively need to be reinforced with this group.

– Young women are rarely seen as equal decision-makers and have less access to education and financial resources. Indeed young women have 22% lower literacy then young men[iv] and a third of the spending power. Harmful traditional practices such as sexual cleansing (when a husband dies, his brother will sleep with the widow) persist. This inequality is most pronounced in the rural areas, but remains a massive barrier to development in urban centres as well. This project will help both young women and men to appreciate the benefits of a more equitable future.

The Taking Power project is funded by the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF)