Diakonia Democratic Local Governance phase II Diakonia Democratic Local Governance phase II Diakonia har sedan 2018 fått stöd för insatsen "Enhancing Citizen Participation in Local Governance in Zimbabwe", som syftar till att på olika sätt stärka lokal demokrati i landet genom ökat deltagande, stärkt insyn och en förbättrad dialog mellan ansvarstagare och rättighetsbärare. Insatsen har haft ett särskilt fokus på ungdomars och kvinnors deltagande.
I den andra fasen har fokus på kvinnor och ungdomar stärkts ytterligare och tanken är att man skall genomföra aktiviteter i såväl nya som gamla kommuner, där de man arbetat i sedan tidigare skall fungera som en modell för de nya kommunerna. Tre partnerorganisationer fasas ut och två nya tillkommer. Utifrån erfarenheter från första fasen skall mer stöd ges till ansvarstagare, då både utvärdering och andra inblandade parter uppmärksammade en obalans där ansvarstagares kapacitet inte utvecklades i takt med rättighetsbärarna och de krav som började ställas efter utbildningar. The development objective of the programme is "Enhanced democratic governance contributing to improved living conditions for citizens in Zimbabwe." The overall programme objective is formulated as follows: "Rights holders enjoying their rights to quality and gender responsive social services from transparent and accountable local authorities."

The programme is a follow-on proposal to the ongoing programme "Enhancing Citizen Participation in Local Governance in Zimbabwe, 2018-2022". In this new phase, focus on women and youth will be further strengthened, with a more balanced approach of support to both duty bearers and rights holders. Another area of increased focus is the cooperation within and between Consortium members. The development objective of the project:

Enhanced democratic governance contributing to improved living conditions for citizens in Zimbabwe.

Overall Programme Objective:

Rights holders, particularly women, youth and other vulnerable and marginalized groups realize and enjoy their rights to quality and gender responsive social services from transparent and accountable local authorities. 

Programme Outcomes:

1) By December 2025, there is increased meaningful participation of rights holders (women, and youth)  in selected rural and urban areas.

2) By December 2025, there is enhanced responsiveness, transparency and accountability of local government systems and structures in selected rural and urban local authorities.

3) By December 2025, Civil Society organisations in the programme have strengthened institutional and technical capacity and have developed collaborative platforms for learning and sharing best practices.

Theory of Change:

Outcome 1: We believe that if women and youth are not just represented in local government structures, but are meaningfully contributing, and are financially included through economic empowerment, then they will be able to positively influence local governance and push for quality service delivery.

Outcome 2: if local authorities have trained leaders and staff that have adequately designed and followed mandates and competencies, then accountability and transparency is attainable. Armed with sufficient political will and sufficient capacity, the local authorities leadership and staff should be able to steer the positive transformation of the local government systems and processes in a manner that is inclusive of women and youth.     

Outcome 3: if Diakonia works with partners to strengthen their coherence, networking and programme coordination in the context of a one programme approach (in particular with regard to integrating  women and youth  empowerment taking advantage of digital technology), then they will be better able to contribute to transparent and accountable local authorities that serve the needs of  youth and women, driving the processes of positive change and inclusivity.