“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the
world. For, indeed, that’s all that have.”
– Margaret Mead
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Rescue Mission Zambia (RMZ) is a youth-initiated, youth-led
and youth-oriented non-government organization that works to
empower children and youth, especially those in rural areas
or disadvantaged and venerable youth in urban areas, to etch
a decent and sustainable livelihood for themselves through
capacity-building so that they can solve local problems
using local resources and can participate in affairs of their societies
through projects, meetings, lectures, and other lawful
activities that further the aims and objectives of the
organization. RMZ addresses issues of the Environment,
Sustainable Development, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights and Social
Justice, Positive Social Change,
Youth Participation, Child Development, Entrepreneurship,
Agribusiness and most importantly how ICTs (Information
and Communication Technologies) can be used in these
activities to improve content and delivery. It is a legally registered
NGO under the Societies Act. RMZ was founded in 1998 and was
fully incorporated as an NGO and registered in 2001 but it
has been socially active from 1998.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aims and objectives of RMZ are:
§
To source, collect, collate and disseminate information on
pressing issues of today so as to enable a culture of
sustainable development directed at alleviating poverty and
effecting the positive change we want to see in the world;
§
To formulate, monitor and implement viable and low-cost
action-oriented projects to solve some of the nudging
problems in our society with the aim of realizing a better
world;
§
To advocate for youth participation in Zambia and worldwide
and to participate in relevant youth-oriented or relevant
conferences and forums.
§
To work with other organizations at home and abroad whose
objectives and activities are in conformity with ours in
order for the ‘better’ world we crave for to be realized.
RMZ has been involved in a number of projects in the
environmental field. We have been teaching school pupils
about Agenda 21, Sustainable development and social change
through public talks, club meetings and projects. We have
also been carrying out a number of solution-based
environmental projects like the Malaria Prevention Project
of 1999 and 2000 at the University of Zambia, the SEEDS
Project (Students Exchanging Educational and Developmental
Solutions Project), the Be The Change! Project and
participation in workshops, forums and conferences within
the country. We have also been involved in the design and
publication of environmental books through our international
network.
Internationally,
we have been involved in awareness campaigns like the Earth
Charter campai gn, Sustainable Consumption Campaign, Youth
Participation in the Commission on Sustainable Development
and the WSSD process among other environmental processes. In
2001, RMZ was voted into the UNEP Youth Advisory Council for
two years. Its Executive Coordinator became the UNEP Youth
Advisor for Africa and he represented the NGO at many for a
around the world. In the last four year, the Executive
Director (formerly National
Coordinator) and other officials of RMZ have spoken in the
General Assembly Hall of the UN (pictured below), the
opening session of the 22nd Governing Council of
UNEP (pictured right), the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue
sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the
NGO Forum on the 3rd Conference on Least
Developed Countries, The Global Youth Forum, The World Youth
Forum, Youth Employment Summit, The World Young
Entrepreneurs Summit, the Millennium Young People’s
Congress, The World Youth Congress, UNESCO Youth Forum, the
World Conference on Higher Education, the World Conference
on Science, INES 2000 Congress and many, many more......
In
2001, RMZ was voted onto the board of the Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP). The GKP is an evolving, informal
partnership of public, private and not for profit
organizations committed to sharing information, experiences
and resources to promote broad access to, and effective use
of knowledge and information as tools of sustainable,
equitable development (through information and communication
technologies).
RMZ has also worked as the Zambia contact for various
international organisations. A good example is the
International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) for
which RMZ acts as the contact organisation. Under iEARN, we
are working on connecting schools in Zambia to each other
and to other schools outside the countries through ICTs but
predominantly the Internet. We are also working to
fundraising to connect schools to the Internet. So far we
have been able to connect one school to the Internet with
our funding and we implemented a project AIDSWEB that
brought together schools from 7 African countries and USA to
work together in addressing issues of HIV/AIDS especially in
relation to schools using the Internet.
In
2002, in December, RMZ was selected as the National Lead
Agency (NLA) of the Global Youth Service Day (GYSD)
activities. This is an internationally coordinated coalition
of activities, which brings together thousands of youth and
young volunteers on a set day in the month of April to
celebrate service to others and their communities. The goals
of Global Youth Service Day are to:
§
Recognize the year-round contributions that youth make to
the development of their communities through volunteer
service, as well as,
§
Mobilize youth and adults to support the needs of their
communities through volunteering and mentoring.
SCOPE:
Rescue
Mission Zambia (RMZ) is a national, Non-Governmental Youth
Organisation based in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and it
is affiliated to many networks around the world. RMZ works
on many projects in collaboration with other organisations
to complement each other’s energies. We are not a grant
making or profit making organisation and so we rely on donor
funds and fundraising for our operations. We act as the link
between many organisations and Zambian youths and society
and vice versa. Currently, we have two offices in Lusaka and
one in Nangoma, Mumbwa. We are also working in four
provinces of the nine in Zambia.
HISTORY AND
LEGAL STATUS
Rescue Mission Zambia is a
fully registered non-governmental, non-profit organisation
in Zambia. It was founded in 1998 by a few young people who
saw the need and felt the calling and it became a registered
NGO in 2001. It is registered through the Registrar of
Societies of the Government of the Republic of Zambia under
Section 7 (1) of the Societies Act of the Laws of Zambia. A
copy of the registration certificate is shown below.
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