An Advocacy Win for Copper Rose Zambia

In June 2024, one of our projects under Copper Rose Zambia (CRZ), USAID Momentum Country and Global Leadership (MCGL) conducted Service Quality Assessments (SQAs) in selected facilities in Kabwe, identifying key gaps—one being the lack of designated meeting space for adolescents.?

Recognizing this challenge, USAID MCGL provided SMART Advocacy training in August 2024 to 20 adolescents and 5 adolescent health Focal point persons from 5 facilities in the district. The training empowered these young advocates with essential advocacy skills, including the power of the “ASK”, which capacitates participants in formulating actionable advocacy questions.

As a result, youth advocates from Kawama Clinic successfully lobbied for funding to address the need for a meeting space. With support from MCGL, they navigated the process and secured K13,800 from the “Roberto Save Dreams Foundation”!

This is a powerful testament to the impact of youth-led advocacy—a tangible solution driven by young people, for young people.

At CRZ, we are immensely proud of this achievement and the role we played in empowering adolescents to push for meaningful change. Soon, they’ll have the space they deserve to connect, share, and grow!

Empowering Young Voices: CRZ Mobilizes Youth for FP2030

Yesterday, CRZ hosted a pivotal meeting at the Head Office, bringing together dynamic youth-led organizations to raise awareness about Zambia's Family Planning 2030 commitments and empowering young people to champion the cause.

Led by the inspiring Shalom Mwape Kanguya, CRZ Program Officer and FP2030 Youth Focal Point for Zambia, the meeting was a catalyst for action. It marked a significant step towards ensuring young voices are heard and their sexual and reproductive health needs are prioritized.

Together, we're building a future where young people have the knowledge, power, and resources to make informed choices about their health and well-being.?

Employee Spotlight: Rhoda Msiska, Championing for Choice in HIV Prevention Options for Women and Girls

Meet Rhoda Msiska, our dedicated Senior Programs Officer and 2024 AVAC Advocacy Fellow. Since joining CRZ in 2021, Rhoda has made significant contributions to various initiatives.?

As a Youth and Gender Officer on the USAID Family Health and Nutrition Activity, she played a vital role in contributing to efforts towards the reduction of teenage pregnancies in Eastern Province through the implementation of high-impact interventions. She also served as a 2023 AVAC Advocacy Navigator, advocating for the integration of Age of Access Policies for adolescent girls.

Currently, Rhoda is focused on advocating for the introduction of the Dual Prevention Pill (DPP) in Zambia. This innovative product has the potential to revolutionize HIV and pregnancy prevention for women and girls.?

“I firmly believe that the DPP could greatly contribute to improving the health outcomes of adolescent girls and young women by lowering new HIV infections and rates of unintended pregnancies,” Rhoda said.?

Rhoda's passion for improving the health and well-being of young people drives her work at Copper Rose Zambia. She is committed to creating a world where all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Empowering Peer Educators to Amplify Youth Voices

CRZ, in partnership with D-tree , is committed to ensuring that the voices of young people are heard and their needs are met. To achieve this goal, we recently conducted an orientation session of the Pulsebot, a WhatsApp-based chatbot,? with 30 peer educators from our implementation sites.

The session focused on equipping peer educators with the skills to utilize a new feedback mechanism designed to capture young people's experiences with sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services at health facilities.

By empowering peer educators to engage with their peers and collect valuable feedback actively, we aim to drive improvements in the quality of SRHR services across Zambia.

The insights gathered through this feedback mechanism will be used to advocate for better SRHR services and policies. We believe that by amplifying the voices of young people, we can create a future where their sexual and reproductive health needs are fully met.

Updates:

• CRZ Upcoming Fundraising Sports Day
• CRZ September Monthly Newsletter
• CRZ Annual Report for 2023