Peace Commission to develop national dialogue framework
1/2/2019
The Chronicle
Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
THE National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) yesterday met stakeholders to develop a national dialogue framework to promote peace in the country.
In a statement after the meeting in Harare, the NPRC said the violent protests, which occurred last month, made it imperative to move with speed to come up with the framework.
“The NPRC, acting in terms of its mandate provided for in Section 252 (d) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 of 2013, initiated a planning process for national dialogue with key stakeholders.
“The key stakeholders included the Government, traditional leaders, churches, arts and culture, civil society, business, academia, persons living with disabilities, women and the youth among others,” said the NPRC.
The commission said the objective of the meeting was to jointly develop a framework for a comprehensive dialogue process.
“While the NPRC has set the creation of dialogue platforms as a key activity in its strategic plan, the events of the past few weeks have made it imperative to move with speed and create space for national conversations toward social, economic and political transformation.
“In an effort to come up with a framework for national dialogue, conversations during the meeting centred around a number of issues which include why Zimbabweans are not talking, the key pillars of national dialogue, who should participate in the dialogue, at what level as well as how the dialogue should be structured,” said the NPRC.
The commission said stakeholders also discussed issues to do with inclusivity across regions, sectors and communities, transparency, honesty, trust building and principles of Ubuntu.
“The meeting noted the need to address immediate issues as well as putting in place medium and long-term plans for dialogue.
“The Commission will refine the contributions made today and come up with a framework that will be shared with all stakeholders,” said the NPRC. – @pamelashumba1