What does a citizen-led look like? How do we leverage technology to help us fulfill the vision of a citizen-led democracy? How do these technological tools help us manifest the African Charter on Democracy Election and Governance? SIVIO Institute (SI) is an independent organisation focused on ensuring that citizens are at the centre of processes of socio-economic and policy change. It aims to contribute towards Africa’s inclusive socio-economic transformation. It is borne out of a desire to enhance agency as a stimulus/catalyst for inclusive political and socio-economic transformation.
SIVIO Institute is one of a number of grantees of the Charter Project Africa. The Charter Project Africa is a pan-African initiative supporting civil society to promote the continental commitments contained in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) – the central African Union policy document to advance democratic governance in African Union member states. The project is led by six organisations and lasts for three years; having started in the course of 2021. It has a dedicated secretariat based in Addis Ababa which creates linkages between pan-African civil society and African Union policymakers.
The six organisations who’ve partnered to put this project together are the European Partnership for Democracy, Africtivistes, Code for Africa, The Democracy Works Foundation, The Gorée Institute, and the European Centre for Development Policy Management.
In this episode, we spoke to Andrew Songa, the Civil Society Secretariat Coordinator at The Charter Project Africa who outlined the Charter Project Africa’s objectives. We also spoke to Eddah Jowah from the SIVIO Institute, one of the grantee organisations participating in the Project. Eddah Jowah is currently the Programs Manager at the SIVIO Institute.
Eddah spoke to Nathi Mcetywa about what the SIVIO Institute’s vision of a citizen-led democracy looks like and spoke about the measures they are taking to ensure that citizens are able to take the opportunity to get involved in democratic processes in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼. What does an orgination like the SIVIO Institute gain from being part of the Charter Project Africa? Click on the link below to learn more about this project.
This podcast episode is co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of The Charter Project Africa and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union
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