(i) (ii) To increase citizen participation in key electoral processes and strengthen the oversight role of the Southern Africa Eminent Persons in the Zimbabwe election To coordinate a successful regional observation mission for Southern Africa Eminent Persons for the Zimbabwe 2018 elections The ESN-SA Eminent Persons Observer Mission to the Zimbabwe 2018 Harmonized Elections comprised of 15 regional and 8 local observers. The countries represented in the mission were Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Swaziland, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The Leader of the delegation was Dr. Salamao Tomaz from Mozambique. He is the former Executive Secretary of SADC. Dr. Tomaz was co-deputized by Ms Priscilla Isaacs, former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and Father Fidelis Mukonori from Zimbabwe who was the Chief negotiator during Operation Restore Legacy which saw former President Mugabe leave office. Members of the observer mission were drawn from the regional and local civil society organizations, churches, business sector and academia. This brought a unique and diverse component to the observation mission. The full list of the accredited ESN – SA observers is attached as Annex 1. The SADC Eminent Persons Observer Mission to Zimbabwe deployed from 25 July to 1 August 2018. During their briefing and orientation sessions, the observers met with civil society organizations, political parties, the police, the media, youth organizations, political analysts and ZEC. After briefing and orientation sessions, the observers were deployed in teams of two in 8 provinces of Zimbabwe. These are Harare, Bulawayo, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Midlands, Masvingo and Manicaland. 3. Election Observation Methodology The ESN-SA deployed an observation mission of 23 observers, 15 from the region and 8 from Zimbabwe, drawn from the following sectors: Table 1: ESN- SA Observers Sector Number of Observers Academia Business Election Management Bodies Churches / Faith Based Organisations Civil Society Organisations Total 2 2 2 8 9 23 The Mission observed the last stages of the pre-election period, Election Day and the immediate post-election period. A 2-day training was conducted focusing on the preelection environment; media; voter registration, and voter education; voters’ roll; legal 9