In a coordinated effort to improve health accountability, CRZ successfully convened a three-day Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Capacity Strengthening Workshop. The initiative was held under the Strengthening Civic Participation and SRHR Accountability for Children and Adolescents project, supported by Sida in partnership with Save the Children. 

The workshop brought together consortium civil society organisations (CSOs) working across health, child protection, budget tracking, and social justice. The objective was to strengthen their technical and institutional capacity to integrate SRHR into their ongoing advocacy, programming, and accountability initiatives. 

The training was organized directly in response to recent SRHR mainstreaming assessments, which highlighted critical capacity gaps among consortium partners. Over the three days, participants reviewed the legal and policy frameworks protecting adolescent health rights in Zambia, while analysing persistent challenges such as teenage pregnancy, child marriage, gender-based violence (GBV), and high HIV rates among adolescent girls and young women. 

Using a participatory learning approach, the workshop built capacity across several core thematic areas: 

• Clinical & Social Health Frameworks: Deep dives into GBV prevention, HIV/STI prevention, contraception, comprehensive sexuality education, substance abuse, mental health, and Values Clarification and Attitude Transformation (VCAT). 

• Budget Tracking & Public Investment: Practical training on identifying gaps within SRHR budgets and tracking public health spending. 

• Policy & Advocacy Pathways: Strategic mapping to identify advocacy opportunities within district planning processes, parliamentary committees, and national policy review cycles. 

As a direct outcome of the workshop, each participating organization developed a SMART SRHR advocacy action plan. These strategic plans will now guide the CSOs in strengthening community engagement, influencing local policy, and ensuring that children and adolescents have increased access to quality, youth-friendly SRHR services. Through this intervention, CRZ continues to empower civil society with the evidence-based tools necessary to drive systemic accountability and lasting change for young people across Zambia.