Golden Jubilee For Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference The workshops attended by MPs in Rome in the month of August every year is meant to connect MPs with other MPs from other countries so that open discussions are made on how the Zimbabwe government is conducting its affairs. The connection to other Mps is a brainchild of the office and the meetings are changing the way debates are conducted in Parliament. Zimbabwe for a long time wanted to live like an island because it is sensitive to criticism from other countries. This opening has created a different look on the situation. It will be an exaggeration for the office to claim credit alone but the efforts made by the office have seen parliamentarians debating issues not on party lines in certain topics. This has brought about robust debates in parliament. The office's objectives are to help the generality of the people to know how the Parliament operates and to hold it accountable. This intended objective has slightly improved on the basis that, of late people have not stopped on talking only but have gone to the streets to demand their rights from the government. The fact that the office has seriously engaged the law makers, dioceses are now being approached by these law makers for assistance in various areas. The areas include peace building, spiritual guidance and in some cases financial assistance which is never given. For many years the separation between the churches was very clear and undiluted. Churches are now working as one body of Christ since 2006. The relationships continue to grow and all churches have formed a coalition in the name of Zimbabwe Heads Of Christian Denominations. Because of the new dispensation the unity between churches is even more visible. Key activities implemented in the last 13 years were a) Advocacy and lobby on the alignment of laws to the constitution. b) Direct dialogue with MPs on their campaigning strategy which should be violence free and most importantly reconciling MPs who had differences with their parties in order to avoid conflicts leading to violence in communities. This is a proactive approach so that the office does not wait until things are bad. c) Connecting the church with the MPs, other churches, 2 constitutional commissions (National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and Human Rights Commission) and political parties in issues relating to peace building in the country. d) Connecting the legislature, traditional leaders with the people and church. e) The office in many respects has lowered the levels of tension in the country 51