Lesotho Democracy Project

Welcome to Lesotho Democracy ProJECT

The Lesotho Democracy Programme is a joint initiative of the Transformation Resource Centre and the South African Institute of International Affairs.

It is funded by the Royal Danish Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.

The Democracy Project
	A healthy, functioning democracy is the aim of the Democracy Project. A healthy democracy does not just mean democratic institutions. It also requires that society at large be shaped by democratic values and active in its own governance. Broad-based participation in public affairs is the only long-term solution to ensure competent and skillful governance in the interests of the people of Lesotho. For this reason, the Democracy Project focuses its efforts on civic education for the citizens of Lesotho. We aim to give citizens information and training to be active participants in the affairs of their country
Civil Education in High Schools
	TRC reaches students by equipping and training teachers to teach on democracy, human rights, conflict management, and the Constitution. First, we develop teaching material for classrooms. In recent years, TRC has written and published a simplified version of the Lesotho Constitution in English and Sesotho, with an accompanying 180-page Teaching Manual. TRC has also produced a textbook for Conflict Studies, Conflict Studies for Lesotho , which forms part of the Development Studies curriculum in Lesotho high schools. In addition to making these resources available to teachers, TRC conducts training workshops for teachers. We meet with Development Studies and History teachers from around the country to deepen their understanding of the subjects they teach and to relate these to the development of Lesotho. In this coming year, we will be focusing on teaching Conflict Studies using the Conflict Studies for Lesotho textbook. We also conduct workshops on teaching the Lesotho Constitution, with the aid of the Simplified Lesotho Constitution and Teaching Manual produced by TRC. The teaching materials developed by TRC, particularly the Simplified Constitution , are also useful for educating church groups, labour unions, NGOs, and other community groups.
2003 National Student Mock Parliament
	As part of our commitment to civic education in high schools, TRC held the 2003 National Student Mock Parliament. 109 high school students from across Lesotho gathered in Maseru from 1 to 5 December, 2003. The students took the roles of parliamentarians, debating nine issues of national importance using the same debating procedure that is used in the National Assembly. Through this experience, the students got an inside look at how the parliament functions. This event generated interest in politics among the young people of Lesotho. TRC hopes that this will help to raise up a generation of capable and dedicated citizens who will contribute to the good governance of Lesotho in the years to come. Read a full report on the Mock Parliament (.pdf) >>>