Zambia Youth and Women Manifesto

Within the framework of the Southern Africa Political Parties and Dialogue (SAPP&D) Programme, Democracy Works Foundation (DWF) in Zambia in partnership with the Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL) and the Centre for Young Leaders in Africa (CYLA) embarked on a Youth and Women Manifesto initiative in October last year. The initiative was meant to collate and aggregate the aspirations of the youth and women groups in Zambia on a wide range of development and policy priorities for presentation to political parties ahead of the August 2021 elections.

This Youth and Women Manifesto initiative was conceptualized as one way of contributing to the realization of inclusive politics and development which is one of DWF’s core values as well as SAPP&D programmes strategic objectives. This is also in line with the ZNWL mission that seeks to advance the inclusion, representation, and participation of women at all levels as well as CYLA, as it is a platform that advances the agenda for the youth across Zambia’s political spectrum.

The development of the youth and women manifestoes benefited from the collective efforts and contributions of various organizations, groups, and individuals that have a common agenda to advocate for meaningful inclusion of youth and women in all spheres of life in Zambia. In addition to the aforementioned lead partners, a number of organisations under the women’s movement of Zambia and youth-focused organisations are also part of this collective initiate as highlighted in the list below.

The youth and women manifestoes respectively reflect the collective voice of the young people and women of Zambia. Through these manifestoes, women and the youth in Zambia are outlining their pressing needs and priorities that they aspire to be addressed by those that are seeking political leadership particularly as the country heads towards the 2021 general elections.

The process of developing the manifestoes involved the facilitation of consultative meetings with a wide range of youth and women groups as well as other relevant organizations across all ten provinces of Zambia. These were organized both at provincial and national levels to solicit their inputs into the respective manifestos.

These target groups reflected the diverse sectors in which youth and women are involved including political parties, civil society, public institutions, the private sector as well as that tertiary education. Efforts were also made to ensure that the aspirations of young people and women with disabilities are integrated. This process culminated in the production of the respective Youth and Women Manifesto documents.

After a long, consultative and inclusive process, the Youth and Women manifestos have been finalized.

The Youth and Women movements would now like to present their respective Manifestoes to and seek the endorsement of the Presidential Candidates prior to the 12^th August 2021 elections.

Download: Zambia Youth Manifesto

Download: Zambia Women Manifesto

List of organizations that are part of the Youth and Women Manifesto Initiative

Democracy Works Foundation (DWF)
Center for Young Leaders in Africa (CYLA)
Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL)
Youth and Women in Democracy Initiative (YWDI)
Proactive Youths for Positive Change (PYPC)
Young Women in Action (YWA)
Alliance for Accountability Advocates Zambia (AAAZ)
Zambia Law Development Commission (ZLDC)
National Youth Development Council (NYDC)
Young Men Christian Association (YMCA)
Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR)
Vision Zambia Initiative (VZI)
Youth Alive Zambia (YAZ)
Young Emerging Farmers Initiative (YEFI)
Zambia Alliance of Women (ZAW)
Youth for Parliament (Y4P)
United Teachers Union of Zambia (UNITUZ)
Zambia Empowerment Hub for Entrepreneurship and Skills Training (ZEHEST)
Non-Governmental Organizations Coordinating Council (NGOCC)
Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ)
She Entrepreneur (SHE)
Young Volunteers for Environment Zambia (YVE)
Volunteers Welfare for Community Based Care of Zambia (VOWAZA)
Zambia Federation of Associations of Women in Business (ZFAWIB)
University of Zambia Students Union (UNZASU)
Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD)
Youth Development Organization (YDO)
Vilole Images
Restless Development
Youth Sexual Health in Zambia (YHSZ)
Action Governance Forum (AGF)
Mporokoso Bwafano
Development Organization for Peoples Empowerment (DOPE)
Mapesho Womens Club
Mansa District Women Development Association
Monze District Women Development Association
Graduate Women Zambia (GWZ)
Advocacy on Human Development (AOHD)
Women for Change (W4C)
Community for Human Development (CHD)
Young Women Christian Association (YWCA)
Community Youth Concern (CYC)
Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR)
Disability Rights Watch (DRW)
National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW)
Women in Law in Southern Africa (WLSA)
Lusaka West Women’s Association
Zambia National Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ZNASLI)
Zambia National Association for Disabled Women (ZNADWO)

Fannie Nthakomwa

Fannie is a multi-disciplinary expert with more than 17 years of experience in the development and governance sectors. As the Deputy Regional Director, she is responsible for overseeing the management and operation of programmes implemented at the country level within the southern African region for improved programme performance and coherence with organizational and donor objectives.

She also serves as the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) for the Southern Africa Political Parties and Dialogue (SAPP&D). Prior to this, she served as the Senior Technical Adviser (STA) and DWF Country Director for Zambia. She has hands-on experience in grants management and setting up grants-making systems having worked as Deputy Team Leader and Head of Operations for a £19 million multi-donor (DFID, Royal Norwegian Embassy and Irish Aid) pooled grant-making facility in Malawi (the Tilitonse Fund). Her academic background, in which she holds an MSc in Agriculture Economics from University of Malawi, and her practical experience in governance provides the much-needed nexus between politics and development.