Charlotte's Web: Tikambe! Let's Talk!

I thought it was probably about time for a couple of posts about the work I'm doing in Zambia, just to prove that it's not all about lying in the sun reading (-;

As in the other country visits I've done, the focus of my work here is all about getting young people involved in decision-making and policy-making processes at national and local level (civic participation) and supporting them to shape policies and practices that affect young people. As part of the Programme Quality Directorate, my role has been to provide specific support in programme design and development. In Sierra Leone this involved a lot of capacity building and training (and post-its!) In South Africa it was more about mapping what we're currently doing and identifying opportunities to develop programmes further. And in Zambia, I'm working with a very strong existing programme model for this work, helping to clarify the model and how it links to our other work, as well as making recommendations for scale-up over the next three years.

The programme model I'm working on is called "Tikambe", which in the local language of Nyanje means "Let's Talk!" So it's all about using the work that we're doing "on the ground" as evidence to influence policy and decision-makers. One of the most innovative activities for this model is the national radio series we're running, which provides a platform for young people to hold policy-makers to account on particular policies, acts and strategies. So with such great work going on already, the challenge has been to find ways to add value to the work and really start thinking longer term about how it can develop and improve.

The other challenge when you're visiting an office for 3-4 weeks is to slot in around day to day priorities and find opportunities to fit your work around theirs, not the other way around. It's a kind of fast forward immersion process which really depends a lot on the willingness of the team to accept you and the work that you've come to do so I've been so fortunate that the Restless Zambia team have been nothing but welcoming and enthusiastic about my visit.