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Promoting Meaningful Youth Participation in Zambia
The MY-PART Project is a youth-focused initiative that strengthens meaningful participation in civic, social, and political life in Zambia. Supported by the European Union (opens in a new tab), the project works with young people aged 18–30 and youth-led organisations to increase their ability to engage in policy dialogue, governance, and accountability processes in informed, organised, and practical ways.
A name built around agency
MY-PART stands for Meaningful Youth Participation. The name is intentionally designed to be youth-friendly while remaining institutionally credible. “MY” speaks to ownership, identity, and agency, reinforcing that young people are not passive beneficiaries, but active stakeholders and rights holders in national development. “PART” reflects Participation, Action, Responsibility, and Transformation — the ideas at the heart of the project. Together, the name communicates a simple but powerful message: every young person has a part to play in shaping their community and country.
From participation to influence
The project establishes Community EU Youth Sounding Boards (YSBs) as practical platforms for dialogue, representation, and engagement at community level. It also trains young people and youth-led organisations in EU programming, policies, and development priorities, helping them take part in formal processes with greater confidence, understanding, and credibility.
Alongside this, the project strengthens the capacity of youth-led social enterprises, movements, and civil society organisations to engage in policy dialogue, governance, and accountability structures. Through sub-grants to youth-led CSOs, it also supports stronger operations, advocacy work, and civic engagement initiatives that expand opportunities for young people to participate meaningfully.
Stronger youth-led structures for the long term
The MY-PART Project is not only about creating space for youth voices, but about strengthening the structures that allow those voices to be heard and taken seriously over time. By combining youth-led platforms, capacity strengthening, and direct support to youth-led organisations, the project aims to make youth participation more visible, more credible, and more influential in practice.
