The Alliance for Accountability Advocates Zambia (AAAZ), a youth-led and youth focused Non-Governmental Organisation that seeks to support youth and citizenry-led accountability is set to promote social accountability in Zambia using the Talk To Loop platform. In an interview, the AAAZ Executive Director, Mr Luchembe M.K Chilufya said, the platform will help to promote whistleblowing for any corruption or irregularities in utilisation of public resources in Zambia.

What is the mandate of AAAZ?

Luchembe: We use a rights-based approach to build the capacity of target groups with skills and information on tenets of good governance and active citizenship while on the other hand, we lobby and advocate for policies and developmental plans that reflect and respond to real needs of the target groups. We derive our mandate from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), AU Agenda 2063 and National Development Plans at global, regional and national-levels.

What are some of the issues you want to address using the Talk To Loop platform?

Luchembe: We want to use Talk To Loop as a platform to get feedback on interventions we program, collect data, disseminate information, report suspicious activities and promote information sharing among target groups with relevant stakeholders. We foresee it as a platform where we can disseminate information on issues such as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to inform the target groups on their roles and responsibilities not only as beneficiaries but as partners and leaders as well. We also want to utilise the platform to identify some best practices around CDF administration from the different constituencies including reporting of any forms of abuse by local authorities or any other stakeholders. Finally we see it as a platform to promote whistleblowing for any corruption or irregularities in utilisation of public resources.

How do you plan to introduce Talk To Loop to the communities you work with?

Luchembe: We will mobilize youth, young women and persons with disabilities (PWDs) from all the 10 provinces to train them on how they can utilize Talk To Loop as a platform for promoting positive social change by engaging and participating in local development processes. We identify the need to capacitate the constituents with skills and information while providing them with platforms such as Talk To Loop as a means of achieving a sense of ownership, responsibility and sustainability of localised development.

Why are feedback mechanisms important for AAAZ and in the development/aid sector?

Luchembe: Feedback provides insights on the impact that our interventions are making. Through feedback, future programming is enriched with data coming from the target groups. Additionally, the feedback mechanism promotes evidence-based interventions and advocacy which is a core component of AAAZ.

Any other thoughts?

Luchembe: Talk To Loop is a great digital tool to increase the participation and engagement of target groups in addressing developmental gaps and in providing feedback on what is working and what isn’t. We see this as an opportunity to expand our outreach while learning from the constituents we seek to serve.