Anti Voter Apathy Project (AVAP)
If the Zambian people are to influence decision making and thereby their own life circumstances, they must start using their vote in national as well as local elections. That is the message from AVAP, who are working to see a voter apathy free Zambia.
Address: 6604 Mberere Road, P.O. Box FW129, Olympia Extension
Telephone: +260 211 294856
Fax: +260 211 294857
Email: info@avap.org.zm
www: www.avap.org.zm
Contact person: Bonnie Tembo
Theme: Building Local Democracy
AVAP was founded on the realization that very few Zambians made use of their vote in the elections. The reason, AVAP found, was that the people they visited in the communities did not connect their vote to any change for themselves or their community. Since 1995 AVAP has been working to inform people in the communities all over Zambia about their rights on different areas such as health, land rights and education. Furthermore they have been advocating at the highest level of decision-making to see changes for the population.
In this sense AVAP constitutes a "link", connecting the large gap between the Zambian people and the stakeholders of the country, demanding that they listen to the voice of the people. The work of AVAP is slowly making the population realize, that their vote is important, and motivating them to participate in elections. Furthermore it is making the population more confident to take their leaders to task if they are not performing to their expectations. MS Zambia supports AVAP in their work in Lusaka- Eastern- and Luapula provinces.