Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

Civil society plays an important role in the social and political development of Zimbabwe; over 700 civil society organisations (CSOs) currently exist in that country.

However, monitoring and research in Zimbabwe is important to make clear who benefits from state and corporate services, and to what extent these benefits are sustainable. The current situation in Zimbabwe provides an opportunity for CSOs to strengthen their representation of communities in shaping health policies.

PENYA is a youth-centred non-governmental organisation that was formed by and is run by youth. PENYA works to address the socio-economic challenges faced by youth and children through creating partnerships with them, their families, communities, civil society and government, aimed at building their capacities and enabling their voice to be heard and recognized in issues affecting them. PENYA means to shine in Shona and it aims to make the children and youth in our community to shine regardless of the hardships they face.

The three phase approach to human rights work taken by the African Women Millennium Initiative in Zambia (AWOMIZ) involves, first, engaging in regional, and international, human rights systems by submitting relevant periodic reports, and attending sessions.

The second phase involves lobbying the Zambian government to ratify relevant human rights instruments and pushing for the implementation of these instruments.