Reconciliation (ZNPFPR), which was adopted by Cabinet as a precursor to the creation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission. The ONHRI also successfully lobbied for the provision of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) in the new Constitution and it became one of the five “Independent Commissions Supporting Democracy” as highlighted in Chapter 12 of the new Constitution. The ONHRI has since worked on the draft principles of the NPRC Bill, which will form the basis of the NPRC Act. It should also be noted that the NPRC came into effect after the President's assent to the new Constitution. Thus, after the establishment of the new Government, ONHRI is now working on the finalisation of the draft principles for the NPRC Bill so that once approved by Cabinet, the Bill can be drafted with the assistance of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. The Bill will then be presented to Parliament for debate and once accepted, the NPRC Act will be passed into law, hopefully, before the adjournment of the current session of Parliament. ONHRI is cognisant of the ticking clock as the NPRC has a life span of 10 years, hence the need to ensure that the legislation is in place before year-end. This is in tandem with part (g) of the Lesotho Declaration which states that: Governments of the SADC member States are encouraged to facilitate the development of national legal frameworks, as appropriate, for the establishment, strengthening and operationalisation of “national infrastructures for peace and development” Establishment of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) In the establishment of the infrastructure for peace, the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe considered the words of the Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan who said: “the aim should be the creation of a sustainable national infrastructure for peace that allows societies and their governments to resolve conflicts internally and with their own skills, institutions and resources”. Zimbabwe is, therefore, no exception as it aims to put in place an infrastructure for peace that will address the needs of Zimbabweans. The Zimbabwe peace architecture recognises that there is no single player who can resolve all conflicts across the breadth of Zimbabwe, but rather there are a number of stakeholders – 34 The Second International Conference on Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe

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