Power to the Voice (POVO) project, is a CEMCOD initiative supported by the Karibu Foundation in 2023 for a period of six months. The project enhanced civic participation of youth through formal debates, community interface meetings and radio talk shows in Jinja and Mbale districts. The project trained 50 youth in public speaking, debating techniques, civic participation, active citizenship and soft skills.
Project milestones
50 youth were trained in Debating skills, public speaking and civic engagement (25 in Jinja, 25 in Mbale).
4 radio talk shows and community interface meetings, mobilized and organized by the youth themselves served as a platform for grassroots youth to build their confidence and ability to actively listen, effectively communicate and lead on issues of concern while advocating for themselves and other marginalized groups within their communities.
Cumulatively over 500 people were directly reached through community meetings and debate sessions alone while approximately 1 million people were reached through radio talk shows (based on the listenership reach for the two local radio stations we engaged in the project).
A total of 45 local leaders including policy makes at the local government level were engaged in the debates and participated fully in conversations held with the local communities both on radio and in physical meetings.
Several youth and community issues such as those regarding service delivery issues, poor health services, land ownership and evictions, and effective participation in government projects, youth unemployment, poor city planning and Environmental sustainability and climate justice were raised. The project received overwhelming support and demand from both the local citizens and leaders alike. It is on this back ground that the current Neighbourhood Environment Watch (NEW) project was developed
