COMMUNITIES
CIVIC ACTION TEAMS
CivActs in Zimbabwe has convened more than 35 community consultations in partnership with National Association of Youth Organizations (NAYO), Vendors Initiative for Socio Economic Transformation (VISET), Amandla Centre for Development and Zvigogodza Trust in Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Goromonzi and Harare. Through surveys, listening meetings and engagements with public officials and community leaders, CivActs works with communities to identify and address service delivery challenges.
A series of consultations in Goromonzi District found that informal traders were unhappy about the inadequate vending spaces. One survey found that over 50% of informal traders were not selling from a designated market because there were no vending bays available and 92% described the process of acquiring a vending bay as difficult. CivActs partner, VISET, convened several dialogues and engagements with the Goromonzi Rural District Council, resulting in the Council constructing Informal Traders Markets Stalls in wards 16 and 4.
In another example, 55% of surveyed residents in Harare reported that the Council did not collect their household refuse. At public dialogues with local stakeholders including residents, Council representatives and regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Management Agency, a solution was found in fining the City of Harare ZWL 800,000 for uncollected refuse in Mbare and Harare’s central business district. Litter has been collected on a regular basis since this intervention.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
IMPACT TO DATE
We trained 339 community volunteers, 30 in each of the project districts, on rumour tracking, identifying fake news, and countering misinformation.
We provided 1500 pamphlets, 600 brochures and posters, as well as ten standees designed and distributed by the thousands within the targeted communities.
We invited ten content creators to participate in the Virtual Media Caravan activity, where they shared inspirational stories of unsung champions of COVID-19 (in the form of blogs, columns and video) of marginalized communities. These stories have been shared on more than 35 local websites, newspapers, Facebook pages and YouTube channels.
56 Coronavirus CivActs Campaign (CCC) weekly bulletins were developed and published in four languages including, English, Urdu, Sindhi and Pashto, reaching 5.2 million people on social media in 15 months.
Radio spots were aired in various languages on regional and local radio channels focusing on Covid-19 SOPs, countering misinformation and vaccine promotion, with a total reach of 6.35 million. The project created 12 radio programs organized in Urdu, Pashto and Sindhi.
We produced 27 100 copies of IEC materials (brochures, pamphlets, posters and standees) which were disseminated in 10 project districts for offline advocacy.
33 videos from public health experts, government officials, DCs, DHO, political and religious figures as well as influencers were developed in collaboration with the Department of Health (DoH) – KP to increase the vaccination rate and focus on the strata of the population eligible for vaccination.