SARSYC
The Consortium
Students and Youth working on reproductive health Action Team (SAYWHAT) , as a public health social movement organization, has traditionally organized national-level conferences and platforms to amplify the voices of students and young people in the wider public health system. Over time, these conferences and platforms grew in influence, leading to the involvement of students, youth, youth-serving and youth-led organizations, as well as other stakeholders from the Southern African region. This sparked greater interest in participating and following up on the conference outcomes and advocacy demands. This gave birth to the inaugural Southern African Regional Students and Youth Conference (SARSYC) which was hosted in 2015 in Harare, Zimbabwe, attracting delegates from across the region.
One of the outcomes of these conferences was the growth in size and scope of youth advocacy work to be implemented after the conferences, a process which led to SAYWHAT establishing a regional consortium. The regional consortium which was branded as the Southern African Regional Students and Youth Consortium is mandated to convene as one of its key deliverables, the Southern African Regional Students And Youth Conference. Furthermore, the consortium is running a portfolio of projects which are designed to implement intercountry advocacy work that harnesses on binding and legal frameworks governing young people’s socio-economic rights in the Southern African region.
Dubbed the GEAR alliance, the consortium is made up of 10 organizations, with SAYWHAT as the lead organization. The consortium is made up of organizations from 5 Southern African countries working to improve the health and education outcomes of young people, including Centre for Youth Empowerment and Civic Education (Malawi), National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (Zambia), Mwana Pwo (Angola), Girls Activist Youth Organization (Malawi), Associacao Mulher, Lei e Desenvolvimento (Mozambique), Plataforma Mulheres em Acção Angola (Angola), MWANASIKANA WANHASI (Zimbabwe), Centre for Reproductive Health and Education (Zambia), Farming Communities Educational Trust (Zimbabwe) and SAYWHAT. Through the conference, the consortium builds and strengthens relations with other national and regional organizations to track and improve policies, strengthen youth advocacy, and implement initiatives that lead to the realisation of the vision of ‘Generations of healthy and empowered young people (students, youth, adolescents and children) across Africa.’
