What We Do

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For the organization to achieve its vision of a peaceful and prosperous democratic Africa, the founding members formulated the following objectives;

1- To work with civil societies on the continent where they exist, and ease in their establishment where they don't exist. Watch Democracy Grow workers and volunteers will intensively put emphasis on doing civic and public education in schools, universities and in the community, so as to teach people the advantages of five pillars and why they should be integrated in our societies.

2- Partner with UN, AU, USA, IMF, USAID, World Bank and other organizations in the western democracies in order to have a strong team that will help in the integration and evaluation of the democratic process on the continent by assessing whether after the 1st term of each country’s election, that particular country is still in compliance with the democratic path it attempted to launch verses structural adjustment programs that it works under and other donor conditions. If the country is not, then request donors and other major financial institutions to bring the country back to the right path either by restricting or even issuing sanctions where necessary for the benefits of that country’s community.

3- Work towards promoting peace through public and community civic education on the benefits of political stability, so that Africa’s economies can be accessible without fear of insecurity which has characterized some parts of the region.

4- A healthy population is the number one resource for any country. Therefore, Watch Democracy Grow hopes to promote disease free generations through public health education on diseases which seem to be challenging the continent such as AIDS, Malaria and other chronic diseases that are cropping up, for example diabetes, cancer and heart diseases. In addition, the organization believes that environmental health is another field that facilitates clean surroundings and sanitary behaviors which leads to healthy communities in the end. Therefore, the organization will equip local communities with sanitary/ environmental health techniques to use as well as advocating for clean energy and climate change challenges.

5- Watch Democracy Grow believes that it is time to pay a close attention on how democracy is implemented and progresses on the continent, so that early intervention mechanism can be improvised instead of late interventions which sometimes do not save lives. Also there is need to encourage women to be involved in the governing process since women and children are affected heavily by the aftermath of any political instability. Therefore, women empowerment is another objective that this organization hopes to undertake by encouraging girls to learn and teach African societies to eradicate bad cultures that are a hindrance to equal development of both men and women. In other words teach inclusive democracy and encourage education for girls.

6- Create a spirit of brotherhood or national identity among community members as a mechanism of reducing tribal and ethnicity tensions, as well as increasing a sense of communal responsibility.

7- To advocate for leaders to be trained on democratic leadership skills whenever they come into power because, leading people can be a challenge and frustrating even to those with required knowledge and skills, but it can be more so to those without them. The organization believes that the reason why most leaders in Africa cling to power is for protection against the crimes and human rights abuses that they committed unknowingly due to lack of either, leadership knowledge and skills or professional ethics of good governance. While others come from military back grounds, with no training on how to serve people democratically, hence apply dictatorial rule learnt from military setups.

8- Introduce positive reinforcements or rewards to those countries that have managed to stay on the right path of democracy, so that they can be used as role models to those which are still struggling. Thus, celebrate countries with success stories by giving incentives and prizes to leaders who accept to transfer power peacefully and respect the will of their people

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9- To reduce the problem of refugee crisis and Africa’s brain-drain, which have characterized most of Africa countries since colonial period by making countries stable, favorable and attractive to young people who acquire knowledge and skills from abroad

10- To advocate for the promotion and preservation of indigenous culture, performing arts, literature and customs of the African people. President Barrack Obama in 2010 endorsed the United Nations (UN) declaration on the rights of indigenous people. Article 5 of this declaration states that indigenous people and individuals have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, social and cultural institutions, as well as retaining their right to participate fully if they so wish in the political, social and cultural life of their current governing systems. Article 9, adds that they have the right to belong to an indigenous community or nation in accordance with the traditions and customs of that community. While Article 11, advocates for the right to practice and revitalize cultural traditions as well as customs, which includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and the future manifestations of cultures such as archaeological or historical sites, artifacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies, performing arts and literature. Refer to;

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