ZIMBABWE ELECTION SUPPORT NETWORK ANNUAL REPORT 2010 political parties. The Media and Information department remains the hub of information that is impartial and objective on election and good governance related issues. There were a number of activities including a training workshop for editors and journalists whose objective was to equip the media practitioners with election reporting skills and to keep them informed on the activities of ZESN. A number of statements were issued and flighted in the print media. Our ZESN website also remained an important tool for information dissemination. For the Public Outreach programme attention in the first half of the year was dedicated to sensitizing citizens on the COPAC constitution outreach programme for the new constitution through workshops and public meetings. The department through various fora took a number of pertinent issues to the public for debate and deliberation including Zimbabwe's preparedness for the forthcoming elections, the proposed systems of governance, electoral management bodies and electoral systems and peace building and conflict transformation. The Research and Advocacy branch of the ZESN programming undertook a lot of activities in 2010 and the most notable of these were the papers on Special voting, Systems of Governance and the Voter's Roll Observation which sought to investigate the currency and completeness of the country's Voters' Roll. ZESN sampled 102 wards and we have made recommendations to the Government, ZEC, political parties and the international community on the findings of the study. The department also hosted a 2 day conference on how CSOs can collaborate on issues around the electoral cycle, as well as provincial workshops on enhancing the participatory capacities of civic society organisations in the Constitution making process in Zimbabwe. regional and international observation missions such as the Kenyan referendum, the Zanzibar election and the Sudanese election among other missions. I acknowledge the role that our funding partners continue to play as we pursue our various activities in line with our mandate and strategic vision. I am also grateful to the ZESN membership for their resilience in achieving the objectives of the organisation even when faced with daunting challenges. The direction and leadership of the ZESN Board and Management Committee is priceless as it has capacitated us to remain vibrant and relevant in carrying out our duties. I commend the ZESN secretariat for the sterling work that they have done for the organisation in the past decade putting in extra hours when the need arose to ensure our ability to deliver on our goals. Looking into 2011 with the likelihood of elections it is imperative that ZESN gears itself for the work ahead in observing the elections and the referendum on the new constitution. This report chronicles the many activities that the organisation carried out in 2010 and it is my expectation that the highlights, impact indicators, challenges and successes recorded therein will afford the reader a greater understanding of the work we do as ZESN. We remain committed to advocating for the holding of credible, democratic elections in Zimbabwe. ZESN celebrates the end of the first decade anchored by our values which include; Democracy, Accountability, Credibility, Impartiality and Transparency. Thank you Conclusion In retrospect, the year under review is noteworthy for our achievements as a team. Despite not been an election year, 2010 proved to be very busy with numerous workshops, public meetings and conferences being organised. Some members of the secretariat represented the organisation on various 6 Rindai Chipfunde Vava ZESN National Director PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN ZIMBABWE

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