With December 10 almost here, the D-day of the 2021 Virtual SADC Human Rights & Poetry Festival, the Virtual Festival has attracted 7 SADC Countries. This edition has been made possible with support from:
Southern Africa Human Rights defenders Network: The Southern Defenders embodies an iron-clad commitment to protecting human rights defenders (HRDs) in the face of attacks and shrinking civic space. It coordinates regional efforts to provide rapid, practical, comprehensive and inclusive protection support to HRDs at high risk, defend civic space, and empower HRDs to mitigate the effects of repression. To this end, the SAHRDN contributes to the respect and recognition of HRDs as legitimate actors and agents of social change with universally recognized and constitutionally guaranteed rights including artistic freedoms. Facebook: SAHRDN Website: Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network.
Accountability Lab Zimbabwe: Accountability Lab Zimbabwe works with communities to improve knowledge about local problems, the accountability challenges that cause them and drive conversations around accountability, integrity, and impunity. Through its initiatives, including the Accountability Incubator, Civic Action Teams, and Arst4Change, the Lab seeks to address entrenched negative political, social, and economic dynamics around accountability by incentivizing communities to try new and innovative approaches to change governance outcomes from the bottom up. Facebook: Accountability Lab Website: AL-Z.
Youth Innovation Trust: Youth for Innovation Trust (YIT) is a collective of active global citizens pursuing youth development through social innovation. In this vein, YIT utilizes Technology and the Arts to position youth for active and meaningful participation in public life. YIT acknowledges that young women should be at the centre of all development processes, hence, takes a feminist approach in all its programming whose Mission is to engender consciousness against discrimination on basis of age and gender through innovative solutions that uplift livelihoods for active global citizenship. Facebook: YIT Website: Youth For Innovation Web.
Bloggers of Zambia: Bloggers of Zambia is an independent, not-for-profit enterprise that works in three themes; Internet Governance and Digital Rights; Media Rights and Freedoms and online Creative Content and Platform Management whose vision is, “Keeping online spaces open”. Have an environment where civic and its associated rights are respected and guaranteed. Facebook: Bloggers Website: Bloggers Web.
The Festival is brought to you as a voluntary contribution to building the culture of conversation on Human Rights in the SADC Region by the Word Smash Poetry Team.
Note: The Big Dream is to have a Physical Festival in 2022 which will begin with the Women Arts and Poetry Festival in March during Women’s month then the SADC Human Rights and Poetry Festival.
Word Smash Poetry Movement 