SFCG Southern Africa
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Zanzibar
Supporting National Unity & Increased Citizen Engagement in Governance
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Since October 2010, SFCG has been engaging in an innovative top-down, bottom-up approach to strengthen the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Zanzibar with the overall goal of supporting national unity and increasing citizen engagement in governance. This approach incorporates three separate, but interrelated components which are leadership, media, and civil society. |
Strengthening Unity in Zanzibar
Zanzibar Program Manager Spes Manirakiza (center) as she facilitates a Leadership Program.
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In January 2013, to further inform our media and governance work, we undertook a comprehensive media sector mapping. The objective was to gain an understanding of the sources and content of media consumed by Zanzibaris as part of a larger effort to improve transparency, civic participation, dialogue, and interactions between government and citizens. A central finding of the mapping was the need to increase government openness in reporting as Zanzibaris acknowledged a lack of open communication between civil society, the media, and government.
Read the Key Findings |
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Leadership
SFCG sees the GNU as a visionary and courageous stand for another way of governing, moving away from the politics of confrontation towards collaboration and joint problem-solving. In December 2010, we established the GNU Leadership Support Program to support members of government, the House of Representatives, senior civil servants and other high level political leaders to develop their leadership through skills training, workshops, one-on-one support, coaching and sustained positive engagement.
Media
The media component builds on the strong partnerships that SFCG has with seven popular radio stations on Unguja and Pemba by providing media training and production support. Given that an estimated 65% of all adults living in Pemba and 83% of adults in Unguja listen to radio, radio remains the best way to reach the majority of Zanzibaris.
Our efforts focus on strengthening radio journalists' ability to cover political and social issues in an impartial and responsible manner. Since November 2010, SFCG has conducted a series of media skills development activities including trainings, coaching, constructive programming, and on-going support. These efforts have had the cross-cutting objective of sharing the common ground journalism methodology.
Civil Society
SFCG's civil society component focuses on increasing engagement between civil society, media, and the GNU, particularly on themes of governance, accountability and peace. SFCG and its local partners facilitate discussions and sessions with key civil society members to increase knowledge on governance, accountability and peacebuilding, enhance advocacy skills, and provide opportunities for networking among members.
Journalists recording media in Zanzibar.
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