Welcome to the interim Twaweza website. This site and the Swahili version are still under construction.

What is Twaweza?

Twaweza means “we can make it happen” in Swahili. It is a new citizen-centered initiative, focusing on large-scale change in East Africa. Twaweza believes that lasting change requires bottom-up action. We seek to foster conditions and expand opportunities through which millions of people can get information and make change happen in their own communities directly and by holding government to account.  Read more.

What are our goals?

Real change takes time. We are not keen to just do easy activities and check implementation boxes.  That is why the Twaweza initiative has a ten year time frame, with two goals. First, we seek to enhance ‘citizen agency’, by which we mean the ability of men, women and young people to get better information more quickly, cheaply and reliably; monitor and discuss what’s going on; speak out; and act to make a difference. This is important for its own sake, because every person should feel a sense of empowerment or control over their own lives. It is also important because it contributes to our second goal: which is to enable many more people to enjoy quality basic education, health care and clean water. For specific information read more.

How do we work?

We do not believe that sustainable change comes through establishing little projects here and there. Neither do we believe that people in the capital city are best placed to bring change in thousands of communities across the region. Therefore we will not set up lots of Twaweza projects. Instead we will work through large networks and institutions that already reach people and are important to their lives – such as mass media, mobile phones, religion, and consumer goods networks. We will broker ‘win-win’ partnerships, where each partner can simultaneously achieve its goals and support citizens by doing what it does best. And by linking up different partners who might not otherwise cooperate – such as teachers’ union with the church or mobile phone companies – we hope to leverage a greater ‘ecosystem effect’ of change on the ground. Read more and see our criteria for partnerships. 

Why do we make such a big point about learning and evaluation?

Like elsewhere, East Africa is littered with lots of development activities that were well meaning but that achieved little or did not last long. We therefore have a fierce commitment to learning and sharing lessons. Which parts worked well and which did not, and why? What key factors explain success or failure, and under which conditions? Throughout, we will foster a culture of learning and self-critique, and document and share lessons in creative and accessible formats. We have also appointed an independent entity to undertake a rigorous evaluation of Twaweza over its first five years, and will use these lessons to inform internal practice and global knowledge.

Where are we so far?

These are still early days. During 2009 our main focus has been on doing research, establishing the organization, recruiting staff and setting up systems. But we are keen to get going, and have started work with a number of partners, and are currently exploring possibilities with a range of new and exciting partners.