Citizen discussion spaces for young malagasies

Young people in Madagascar have to deal with huge challenges, but there is little scope for them to express themselves and to shape their own future and that of the Great Red Island. They are, however, important in development terms, and this was what prompted CFI to support the initiative by Antalaha's mayor, Eddie Fernand,to create an environment propitious to raising awareness of citizenship issues on the part of young people in his local area. This initiative has a number of objectives: to give young people a higher profile with local authorities and civil society bodies; to encourage them to speak out and to become involved in general interest issues; and to promote a culture of discussion with a view to strengthening their role as active citizens and agents of change.

This project benefits from ECES (European Centre for Electoral Support)expertise in training youth workers to lead citizen expression forums.
Over four days, from 17 to 20 October 2016, eight youth workers from associations active in Antalaha were trained in the fundamental concepts of leadership, collaboration strategies and discussion/moderation techniques.

A screening and discussion of " Zana-bahoaka! Le néo-rebelle malagasy", a film on citizen's perceptions of how power is exercised in Madagascar, was organised for the last day of the workshop in a local community centre. The discussion that followed the screening brought together a number of young people, enabling them to express their reactions and take part in a group discussion.

This workshop will now train 75 youngsters from various segments of Antalaha society, allowing them to take part in citizen discussion forums in 2017 and citizen projects at a local level.
This project is implemented in partnership with the ECES: