My Voice, My Power: Young Tanzanians Hit the Airwaves to Talk Social Accountability

Implemented by 14 Raleigh Tanzania SAY Campaign Coordinators in 12 districts, young people are using their voices as a catalyst for change. Through radio broadcasting, communities involved in the Raleigh SAY project are sharing their views about social accountability and how they are using different mechanisms to monitor projects in their local areas.

SAY Campaign Coordinators play a crucial role in sharing success stories from communities that have established Joint Working Groups through Raleigh’s SAY programme. Using local radio platforms, they share how inclusive and robust project monitoring mechanisms enables transparency, accountability and integrity within communities, in the hope to reach more communities who will want to engage in the project.  The more people hear about the project, the more communities will want to engage, which is why using their voices through radio can be such a powerful tool for change.

Through their broadcasts SAY Campaign Coordinators also encourage communities, local governments and development agencies to learn about the Community Integrity Building Model.

Hadija is a graduate from Muslim University and a SAY Campaign Coordinator advocating for change by speaking on Kondoa FM. She says:

“Voices are powerful. I believe that if I as a young person speak to my fellow young people, they will understand me. I have shared a lot of experiences with my communities here in my district of Kondoa. Currently we have 20 communities from Kondoa and neighbouring district of Chemba [engaged in SAY]. We have reached more communities and people in Kondoa who have shown interests to learn more about CIB model and adapt it. I encourage everyone to get in touch with Raleigh Tanzania through text messages, calls or even surf on the website so that to learn about the CIB approach’’.

“I am happy that, through my sessions, I have had an opportunity to hear feedback from different people in the community, this proved to me that young people’s voices can change communities’ perceptions and behaviour, eventually leading to change. Young people need to speak up about things that matter to them. I have received positive feedback from women, youths and people living with disabilities. I encourage everyone – without leaving anyone behind to support this campaign (#Nawajibika) on social media and other platforms. I call upon young people to speak for change and encourage inclusion and accountability.”

The SAY campaign continues to work to ensure that Joint Working Groups are an effective, inclusive mechanism for discussing challenges and agreeing solutions to increase the level of accountability among development partners and communities.

The SAY project is delivered by Raleigh Tanzania in partnership with Integrity Action and is funded by a four-year grant from UK Aid Direct.