Tag a Life International Trust (TaLI), a Zimbabwean girls and young women’s rights organisation is calling on regional partners from East and Southern Africa to coordinate the participation of girls and young women from their country, in a high-level regional conference which will run from the 23rd of November to the 25th of November 2021. TaLI and the regional partners will host the first ever High-Level AGYW Regional Conference, which will this year focus on AGYW; mapping their issues during the Covid-19 as well as post Covid-19 recovery, and putting them on the continental agenda.
TaLI has for the past 5 years conducted physical annual conferences in Zimbabwe as a way to empower girls and young women from different parts of the country, as part of its holistic empowerment programmes. The conferences have been a place of elevating their voices, engaging with members of parliament on various issues, increased networking and building solidarity as young women who would have gone through our other empowerment programmes such as the one year ‘Leadership Economic Mentorship Hubs – LEMHs Programme’ that TaLI implements to raise young women leaders.
Young women are largely discriminated against based on gender, sex and age in Zimbabwe. The same can be said for their counterparts in Africa. Furthermore, the COVID- 19 pandemic has brought about immense changes in their social, economic and psychosocial environment. These have negatively impacted the status of girls and young women especially with regards to Education, Economic Empowerment, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) violations, Gender Based Violence and Peace Building and access to Covid-19 vaccinations.
Africa too is faced with poor resources, corruption and misplacement of priorities. Issues of participation in governance, democracy, human rights, ICTs and the impact of Climate and Environment remain key as the world grapples with the pandemic and is refocusing its efforts on rebuilding economies while learning to live with the pandemic. It is critical that at this stage girls and young women have a say in ensuring that their issues are on the agenda and are high priority. This conference will bring together girls and young women ages 16 to 25 from 10 countries in the Southern and East Africa to share their experiences, map their agenda, engage their country’s responsible ministries and submit their demands to the African Union to contribute to Africa’s priorities as it rebuilds the continent beyond this pandemic.
The participating regions in this year’s edition include Southern, East and West Africa. In Southern Africa the following countries will participate; Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Eswathini and Zimbabwe. In East Africa; Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia will participate while in West Africa; Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leon, Senegal and Liberia will take part. At least 100 girls are targeted from each of the 15 countries.
The hosting partner is also expected to work closely with a core group of between 10 and 20 girls from diverse backgrounds in their country who will be speaking and representing the key issues. The conference ends on the 25th of November; the official global launch of 16 days of activism against GBV. On this day the girls will hand over a communique with their demands to the African Union and their own government. The Communique will be the major outcome of the conference. TaLI is hereby calling on “In Country Partner Organisations’ in each of these above mentioned 10 countries whose mission is to advance the rights of girls and young women, to come on board and coordinate the participation of 100 girls in their country in the conference.
The responsibility of the point organisation in each of the countries will be to recruit, prepare the participants for the conference and also support them with resources such as data, gadgets, transport for the co-group and also lodgings depending where necessary. The host organisation has to be an organisation with a track record of working with girls and young women. TaLI is mobilising resources especially data and coordination costs for the in-country partners albeit limited. It may help if a partner has additional resources but they are not required to have. Interested organizations should be able to work with the responsible government ministries in-country and local media to attract their presence at the conference.
Interested organisations should already be working with girls and young women in the following 2 or more thematic areas;
2021 Thematic Areas
● Adolescent Girls and Young Women Empowerment (Economic and Leadership Participation)
● Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Peace Building
● Education and Psychosocial Support
● SRHR and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management / Covid-19
● Information Communication Technologies (ICTs)
● Environment and Climate Change
Advocacy is a cut-across issue which is identified across all thematic areas.
To be considered as the ‘In Country Partner Host Organisation’, kindly send us a the following:
· One-page profile of your programming experience with girls and young women, showing your past and present work, the ability to host the girls pre and during conference; thus indicate a budget that your organisation has available for you to coordinate the girls in your country, and your interest in continued engagement at the regional level beyond the conference.
· A. short 2 minute video of why your organisation should host the conference as a Youtube link, or a one page document attached to their organisational profile.
· Name of the leader of the organization and contact person.
· Also provide your website and social media handles in your profile, you may attach photographs showcasing on some of you past work with young women and girls.
· Successful hosting partner will provide us with logos that will be used on the conference documents and advertising.
More details of the processes will be availed to the successful partnering host organisation. This call is also relevant to funding partners who may be interested in supporting the conference.
Interested organisations should Please send their expression of interest and requested information to: tag.alife@gmail.com, / tali.progmanager@gmail.com by the 5th of November 2021.