Youth project in Zimbabwe

The Working group for democratic mobilization in Zimbabwe is partnering with the organization Youth Forum from Zimbabwe. They are currently working on the capacity building project, Creating legitimate and viable platforms for youth participation, which is to democratize Youth Forum. At the core of the project is the objective of making the structure of Youth Forum member-driven and democratic in order to ensure representation of the members.

Marginalized youth
The youth in Zimbabwe is a marginalized group in terms of participation in political processes due to social, economic and cultural facts. Currently, there are no democratic and member-driven organizations representing the youth that are not students. This is in spite the fact that youth represent a rather big part of the population and the future of Zimbabwe also depend on them. That is why it is essential to give them a voice and the right to participate in political processes.

Youth Forum must be strengthened
The project will activate and formalize Youth Forum's member-base while facilitating the decentralization of democratic structures at district-, ward-, and national level. In addition, the project is going to strengthen the democratic capacity of the leaders in the organization. Overall, these activities will strengthen Youth Forum as an organization and make it a collective voice of young people. This will improve its legitimacy when speaking on behalf of its members and thus increase their participation in the development of youth policies in Zimbabwe.

The project starts in july/August 2011 and runs until the end of 2012. It is financed by PATC - The Project Advice and Training Centre