"Girls line up for official inspection prior to a match at one of the female sports league organized by YES Tanzania last year during a Civic and Voters Education targeting young people. YES Tanzania uses sports as a vehicle to reach young people. All over the world young people love sports either by themselves playing or watching. Female sports like this one helps to bring gender equality contrary to a belief that football is a male's sport". (File Picture)
By Friday Simbaya, Mbeya
The Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) has hailed Youth Education through Sports Tanzania (YES Tanzania) a youth led and youth focused NGO based in Mbeya region for implementing a Civic and Voters education project in Mbeya rural, Mbeya region last year prior to general elections in accordance with the project contract between YES Tanzania and FCS.
Through a contract number FCS/MG/SCGE/15/548, FSC gave YES Tanzania a grant worth 15m/ (USD 6,860.00) to facilitate the implementation of the project.
According to a letter signed by Martha Olotu on behalf of the FCS Executive Director, sent to YES Tanzania Executive Director, Kenneth Simbaya, FCS acknowledges that YES Tanzania has demonstrated ability to execute the project according to implementation plan.
“The organization has demonstrated strongly its ability in working collaboratively with various partners in executing the project,” reads the letter from FCS.
Civic and Voters education project which targeted young people was implemented between September-November 2015.
The Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) is an independent Tanzanian not-for-profit organization that provides grants and other capacity building services to civil society organizations in Tanzania. The FCS was registered as a legal entity in September 2002 and started its operations as an independent organization in January 2003.
Meanwhile, YES Tanzania is in negotiations with Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA) seeking support to implement a project dubbed Funguka that aims at advocating for youth participation in decisions and issues that affect young people.
According to Simbaya, nowadays most of the youth in Tanzania and globally are leading lives without proper guidance, excluded from planning, implementing and evaluating programmes, policies and plan which at the end of the day affect their lives. YOUTH ARE IN DARKNESS when it comes to how plans are initiated or designed, implemented and evaluated to authenticate as to whether they respond to their needs and concerns, something which has led most of the youth to develop a culture of apathy and back seat syndrome.
He said the government, individual people and CSOs, have tried to address young people’s problem but in vain, not only have purported intervention flopped or couldn’t produce the desired result but they also lacked support from the very young people they purported to support. The main reason for that is, youth are not involved in reaching for the purported solutions and hence the decisions reached lack ownership and enthusiasm needed for the decisions to be implemented. We forget that transformation cannot be imposed; it should be from inside out.
“There are signs from this administration led by President John Pombe Magufuli, that young people could be given opportunities. This is evident in his various appointments,” Simbaya intoned.
Funguka project according to Simbaya, has three main objectives namely: Stimulate youth participation in democracy and good governance, to encourage local governments, political parties to engage youth in various matters that affect youth, and to increase youth and gatekeepers accountability.
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