2:0 INCLUSION AND PARTICIPATION: GUIDING PRINCIPLES 2.1 The Commission’s Own Guidelines on Public Participation Past initiatives have taught us as a country of the importance of setting standards for an intervention. The NPRC needs to spend some time and resources in designing standards, tools and mechanisms for ensuring effective and substantial participation of the public in its programme. This will allow it to draw key principles and guidelines of how to make it deliberate and clear from the beginning that this will be a process hinged on radical transparency. These guidelines, which we recommend to include some of the guidelines discussed here, could be part of the regulations that are provided for in the NPRC Act, hence with the force of law. Failure to adhere to such regulations should have consequences. 2.2 Consultations as an Ongoing Process, not an Event Consultations at individual and community levels need to be treated as a process not a one-off event. The process should be cognizant of the preparatory work that needs to take place before the Commission's interventions, hearings or other activities in a community. There is need for a supporting process during the activity, follow-up support and peacebuilding processes after the Commission has completed the engagement. 2.3 ‘Do No Harm!’ The area that the NPRC is going to work is highly sensitive. The trauma is real and widespread, and unless acknowledged in the process will exacerbate distress and deepen conflict in communities. A DO NO HARM, conflict sensitive, approach must be central to the NPRC process. There needs to be a specific guideline addressing the Do No Harm principle in the operational standards. 2.4 Public Participation is at the Heart of Victims Centeredness In June 2015, over 48 organisations met in Nyanga and came up with Guiding Principles on Transitional Justice Policy and Practice in Zimbabwe (NTJWG, 2015). One thing that cuts across this set of principles is the emphasis on ensuring that individuals and communities affected by past violations remain at the centre of the process. The commission’s guidelines 3 THE CODE OF INCLUSION