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| Democracy
And Human Rights Fund (DHRF) The Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF) is one of a variety of programs the U.S. government is using to support the process of democratization in Africa. The Democracy and Human Rights Fund II Activity (DHRF II) was authorized in May 2000, building upon the foundation laid by previous Democracy and Human Rights Fund projects. The purpose of DHRF is to provide a mechanism to support and strengthen democratic institutions and civil society, as well as the adoption and adherence to democratic values and practices in African countries. DHRF supports activities of indigenous African organizations that promote political pluralism and human and civil rights, rather than longer-term development-oriented activities Sanaa Art Promotion was a warded DHRF grant on 26th September 2006 to implement civic education activities for a period of 12 months. The goal of this project is to increase youth participation in electoral process. The project is being implemented in Narok, Kajiado and Nakuru districts. Seven (7) constituencies have been targeted as the geographical units of intervention. They are Kajiado North, Kajiado Central, Kajiado South, Narok North, Narok South, Naivasha and Naivasha Town. This project targets youth between ages 15 and 35. Youth in-and-out of school will form the primary participants. The estimated number of primary participants is 146,608 while secondary participants are 972,764. The youth in the proposed sites form about 60% of the population and maximising their involvement and participation in the democratisation and recognition of human rights can positively impact on the community’s decision-making and social change process. Adverse socio economic conditions and population pressure, are affecting the access of young people to education, training (including their rights and responsibilities as citizens) and gainful employment. The school system and its curricula does not expose the in-school youth to liberating civic education. Sanaa Art Promotions has chosen to work with this target group because they are seriously affected by the problems of bad governance, such as corruption, unemployment and social political disillusionment. The needs of the youth in the proposed sites are never addressed with the seriousness they deserve in both local and national planning. The social cultural beliefs and norms in most of the communities in the target areas do not provide for the opinion of the youth. With such adverse situations, many young people especially young women and the disabled are marginalized and therefore withdraw from issues affecting the community. Participants will be sensitized to appreciate and develop democratic attitudes and behaviors and to participate meaningfully in electoral processes. Youth will remain a watchdog to the new government to holding them responsible and accountable to the electorate. To do this effectively and efficiently, the youth will need this knowledge, to challenge and question Members of parliament who fall short of their responsibilities. Capacity building in terms of civic education on issues governance, democracy and human rights is necessary and priority for this project. Our main activities will be to engage the youth in focus group discussions to collect and collate their views, the development of participatory community outreaches and mural painting. Fourteen (14) murals will be painted in the seven (7) constituencies. Murals are the end product of this intervention. The views collected during FGDs and outreaches will be transposed on a mural to manifest and sustain the civic education content imparted to the youth and the community. Although Sanaa Art Promotions muralists will do mural painting, the community will participate in template/thematic draft sketches development, approval, and mural outlining. The general population will see murals, as they will be left in strategic places as a permanent feature in the community. Communities living in project sites and their visitors will see the murals and learn of what is happening in the area. Unlike other intervention strategies, this approach addresses the barriers of communication such as impaired speech and hearing among the youth as well as audiences of semi or illiterate community members. A Mural is worth a thousand words and a million for the illiterate. The project started in October 2006 and ends in September 2007. The contact person is Mr. Christopher Agutu.
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