4 i) Placing gender firmly on the agenda of the SADC Programme of Action and Community Building Initiative; ii) Ensuring the equal representation of women and men in the decision-making of member states and SADC structures at all levels, and the achievement of at least [a] 30 percent target of women in political and decision-making structures by [the] year 2005.” It is important for observers to also take note that while being signatory to such conventions is one thing, there is need for them to look at other legal instruments operational in the country that hinder the full or even partial implementation of the principles guaranteed by the various conventions. In the case of Zimbabwe, a closer look at the country’s constitution reveals that all these conventions are not part of the country’s laws. For this reason, there is always the problem of government commitment to enforcing the requirements of the conventions. “Section 111B [of the Constitution of Zimbabwe] states that no international treaty, covenant or agreement signed and ratified by the Zimbabwean government shall form a part of the local laws unless parliament passes a law making the agreement part of the laws of Zimbabwe. Thus the most important document on women’s rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), although signed and ratified by the Zimbabwean government in 1991, with no reservations, is not a part of the local law of Zimbabwe.” What this means is, where women feel they have been short-changed and the government is not observing the provisions of conventions it acceded to, they cannot take it to court. Observers should therefore point out to such acrimonious relations between the country’s constitution and the provisions of international conventions that the government is signatory to. With reference to Zimbabwe, it is not only the relationship between the constitution and the provisions of international conventions like CEDAW that an observer should be acquiesced to. Any election observer mission should also be conversant with the country’s constitution and its provisions on the discrimination of women. While section 23, 2(b) guarantees that “no person shall