Women for Change (WfC) successfully launched The Zambia We Want Campaign on 17 February 2010. The event that was attended by over 1500 people from all walks of life saw citizens demanding that WfC spread the Campaign to all parts of the country as soon as possible. One citizen gave an ultimatum of 14 days to WfC in which to ensure that the campaign reached all corners of the country ‘as it was an important national campaign.’ Most of the citizens who spoke at the launch appreciated the campaign, especially that it is people-driven.  

The purpose of the campaign is to build the capacity of citizens, elected leaders and other duty bearers to engage meaningfully in the democratization process by:

·         To promote  a meaningful citizen-leaders dialogue based on mutual accountability, where the general citizenry, elected leaders and government officials will be held accountable for their actions;

·         To collectively develop, through a participatory process, the “Zambia We Want” Charter;

·         To empower citizens demand from electoral representatives, the operationalisation of the Zambia We Want Charter, as a way of influencing policies that promote good governance;

·         To develop a mechanism facilitative of the continuous monitoring of progress towards to delivery of electoral promises.

Several activities to promote an informed and assertive citizenry will be carried out both leading up to the 2011 elections and beyond. From these processes will be a collectively developed ‘The Zambia We want Charter’. The Charter will be the people’s development agenda, which will include among other things issues of mutual accountability by the leaders and the citizens, duties and responsibilities of citizens and specific social, economic and political aspirations of the people.

The Charter will also be a tool for engaging with political party leaders and other duty bearers for their commitment and explanation on how they will address the issues being raised. It will also be a tool for measuring progress.