Commission on whether the environment is conducive for the conduct of free, fail and credible elections. Advocacy for the acceptance and implementation of its recommendations and advise   4.1.5. The Commission will contract legal experts that will work with it to undertake the foregoing. It will also work in conjunction, without compromising its independence, with institutions such as the Law Society, CSOs organisations such as the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Election Resource Centre (ERC) and Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) to assist with analysis of the lawyers and advocacy and lobbying for their enactment Regular stakeholder engagement meetings with key stakeholders to advocate for the acceptance and implementation of its recommendations and advise will be convened by the Commission. Strategic Goal 5: Increased stakeholder engagement during the electoral process Objectives Strengthen engagements with broader stakeholders such as civil society, media and academia in the electoral process Context The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission should engage with a variety of national and international actors involved in different capacities in the electoral process. It should be acknowledged that the Commission has over the past years put in place a framework for engagement but there is need to enhance and formalise the engagement structures especially with likeminded institutions such as Chapter 12 institutions, CSOs, ZEC, the Zimbabwe Republic Police etc. To start with, the Commission should aim at establishing partnerships that would allow for complementarity of monitoring and awareness raising efforts, greater coverage of the electoral process and more effective advocacy and intervention for corrective action. Regular contact with inter alia civil society, the media, ZEC, domestic election observation groups and those undertaking voter education will enable Commission to better assess the human rights situation during elections and take preventive action, if need be. This can include efforts to develop the capacities of national actors to monitor human rights during elections, including through the establishment of election monitoring networks. It has also come to the attention of the Commission that there is a lack of understanding of the mandate of the Commission by a number of stakeholders including government ministries. Consequently, effective access to policy makers in the Ministry has been hindered and far from the ideal for the Commission to make substantive and meaningful engagement. The Security Ministries are more sceptical of the work of the Commission and at times do not cooperate with the Commission. The Commission will develop a stakeholder engagement framework that allows it to interact with its stakeholders regularly and maintain a fluid, transparent relationship. The Commission will facilitate regular consultative workshops with NGOs and CSOs and share information for the advancement of human rights in elections. CSOs periodic human rights reports would provide for useful review and a consolidation source into a joint human rights report. It will publish a monthly human rights bulletin to be distributed with news and updates on the activities of the Commission, and the human rights situation during the election period in the country. Activities      Establishment of a focal desk that will spearhead stakeholder engagement within the Commission during the elections period Launch of the election strategy Convene a conference in collaboration with ZEC in order to assist the security services appreciate their mandate in elections as envisaged by the Constitution. Establish a framework for engagement with Chapter 12 institutions Establishment of an information sharing platform with ZEC 21 | P a g e