BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
MUTARE – MUTARE based community based organization Conscious For Development and Empowerment Trust (CODET) has launched an empowerment programme that gives youth a platform to fully participate at various levels with their communities.
The programme, Youth Engagement For Accountability in Zimbabwe (YEAZ), aimed at engaging youths to fully participate and included in decision making at their local levels, will run for two years in Mutare and Chimanimani districts.
In an interview with this publication last Friday on the sidelines of a stakeholders meeting coordinated by CODET held in Mutare, the organization’s Programmes Director, Pride Mukono, said CODET will initiate platforms for youths to fully participate on decision making at all levels as enshrined in section 20 of the constitution.
“We have gathered stakeholders including the government, youths and young volunteers in various wards. The key deliveries is to set a platform for common understanding of our YEAZ project, which we are implementing with our partners like Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT) and other consortium partners across Zimbabwe,” he said.
“As CODET we are focusing on youths to be involved in decision making at their local level and to be included economically as required by section 20 of the constitution. We want to set targets for the National Development Strategy 1,” said Mukono.
He said CODET will be using different approaches to implement the project.
“We will be using different approaches like community cultural exchanges, information hubs, the mainstream media and social media among others, ” he said.
He said the youth will come up with a data base of of leaders in local authorities and legislators.
“This will help the youths to question and have answers from those who are duty bearers and how they can get in touch with them,” Mukono said.
Vimbai Berete, the CODET Director, said her organization acts as a vocal advocate for emerging youth, women and children in Zimbabwe.
“We are providing a platform where voices can be heard together and a way forward is mapped. CODET is committed to filling the gap that exists in the Zimbabwean national development agenda by promoting rights awareness, social accountability and citizen participation,” she said.
“Our mission is to develop an active and self-conscious Zimbabwean youth who value responsible action for the transformation of society as a whole.We are working with other likeminded organizations to achieve our goals. We want youths to actively participate, consolidate and communicate their views to development, human rights and policy issues to relevant authorities,” said Berete.
“We are focusing our programmes to promote and support emerging youths to engage in development issues through volunteering and partnership,” she said.
Berete said CODET will engage youths to affectively contribute strategically to the development of government policies.
