Governance and Democracy

The aim of this programme is to create an informed society that can demand for democratic practice at all levels of structures of governance and participate in governance issues. The two thematic areas under this programme are:

Transitional Justice

The overall objective of this programme, using a Human Rights Based Approach to Programming and films, is to prepare communities to reflect upon, caucus and meaningfully participate in transitional justice and national reconstruction processes in Kenya following Kenya’s post 2007 elections violence.

Why Democracy?

This civic education programme advocates that active citizen participation is the basis of democracy and schools have an important role to play in effectively educating young citizens. Primarily, this school programme aims to reach young people, mainly secondary and tertiary schools students, and screen films in these institutions. Screening of films and forums in these institutions aims to present a collection of values on which a free and democratic society is based.

Why Democracy? Project is timely to stimulate discussions about democracy through documentaries and a Why Democracy? Facilitator's textbook commissioned by the Steps International for secondary school teachers and the students facilitators in the film clubs. The films both in English and Swahili explore how democracies function around the world, while the goal of the text book is to support and stimulate discussions about democracy in conjunction with the viewing the films in why that does not dictate how democratic systems should work but instead create spaces for reflection and vibrate discussions.

Teachers, principals and policy makers need also to love watching films. Teachers in particular cannot foster love for new medium that they do not have an interest in.