Further, the mandate to participate in elections by the Commission, is amplified by the UN Human Rights Committee that provides the authoritative interpretation of CCPR Art. 25 in its General Comment underlining the need for observers to enjoy access to the election process, recognizing observation as a key element of genuine elections: “There should be independent scrutiny of the voting and counting process […] so that electors have confidence in the security of the ballot and the counting of the votes”. Thus, according to the UN Human Rights Committee, scrutiny by independent organizations is directly related to the right to political participation and is inherently linked to the legitimacy of the process. Notwithstanding the above, the Commission has been focusing predominantly on monitoring the election day activities and this was conducted in an ad-hoc manner thus departing from its broader mandate of human rights protection and enforcement during the electoral cycle. Focusing on monitoring election day activities only instead of a whole encompassing approach that looks at the electoral laws and how they affect electoral participation, awareness raising on election related human rights issues to investigation of human rights violations during the electoral cycle subsequently narrowed the scope of the Commissions mandate in elections. A clear election strategy that guides the Commission’s activities during the electoral cycle would in the future allow the Commission to strategically position itself and holistically strengthen its role in elections. It is against this background that the ZHRC commissioned the development of an election strategy that speaks to its 5-year strategic plan (2015-2020) as well as its mandate of protecting and enforcement of human rights during the elections period as set out in different international and regional standards. This strategy set out a framework for the Commission’s involvement in elections that focuses on human rights issues, during election periods without straying into issues of social, economic or political concern that lie beyond the scope of human rights in elections. Structure of the Strategic Plan The structure of the strategic plan is divided into the following sections: Section I: Background and institutional framework Section II: Methodological approach Section III: Environmental Scan and the Situation Analysis. Highlights key issues affecting elections in Zimbabwe as the country builds up to the 2018 harmonized election. This section also identifies key social, political, economic and legal issues in Zimbabwe that might inform the strategy Section IV: Strategic Direction 2017 to 2019. Discusses the goal and strategic objectives and sets out the strategy principles and the key themes to inform the content of the strategy. Section V: Monitoring and evaluation framework. This includes Log frame as well as the risks, assumptions and the work plan. Section VI: Annexures in support of the strategy Overall the Commission will adopt human rights based approach to programming in the implementation of the strategy to ensure that citizens know and claim their rights in elections. Thus, the Commission will ensure mainstreaming of crosscutting issues such as gender, youth and disability in its election strategy. 6|Page