NOVEMBER 2019
AUGUST 2019 | ISSUE 09
Stakeholders, Friends, and Partners
In this Edition
As the year 2019 draws to an end and the focus shifts to the festivities and
the merry making of the Christmas season, it is important to keep abreast
with the developments in the transitional justice sphere in the country as
transitional justice affects our day to day lives. In this newsletter, we
package these developments for you, so that you get the full picture of
the transitional justice landscape in the country. We cover the activities of
the NPRC and also share some of our activities. We welcome your
feedback
Conflict Early Warning and Early Response Training
On the 12th of November 2019, the NPRC initiated the process of
capacitating its Commissioners and staff on Conflict Early Warning and
Early Response (CEWER) in preparation for the setting up of a national
CEWER system to detect conflicts before they escalate into violence. One
of the facilitators at the training was Dr Prisca Kamungi from the Kenya
National Committee on Peace building and Conflict Management. The
major recommendation for the NPRC that she suggested was that there is a
need to manage expectations by:
a. Establishing the kind of CEWER mechanism that is to be set up;
b. Establishing the legal framework to set up an early warning
system;
c. Defining the terms of reference of the CEWER structure
d. Defining institutional arrangements beyond NPRC's mandate
including buy in and linkages with the response organs and political
establishment
e. Deal with contentious issues so that no further conflicts are created
Capacity-Building
On the 11th of November 2019, NPRC members of staff participated in a
capacity building program, 'Reflecting on peace practice'. The program
aimed to support the secretariat to understand conflict sensitivity and
peace building, conflict analysis tools and an introduction to systems
mapping.
NPRC Activities
Consensus Building/Capacity Enhancement Workshop
th
On the 20 of November 2019, the NPRC carried out a Consensus
Building/Capacity Enhancement Workshop for the Zimbabwe Republic
Police. The NPRC explained its mandate which is enshrined in section 252
of the constitution. The NPRC also explained to the police that its
mandate encompasses the NPRC has power to investigate and conduct
research. The essence of the engagement was to identify areas where
the two constitutional bodies share synergies and how they can maximize
the synergies in executing their respective mandates of promoting peace,
law and order, conflict prevention and resolution.
Chiefs and Churches Summit
On the 19thNovember2019, the NPRC hosted a Chiefs and Churches
Summit in Midlands at the Village Lodge. The purpose of the Summit is for
the Chiefs and Churches to dialogue and set the agenda for peace in
Midlands Province.
Lodging Complaints
On the 6th of November 2019, the NPRC put out a press release outlining
the procedure of making a complaint to the NPRC. The press release
outlined the manner of lodging complaints, where complaints can be
lodged and how they can be made. The NTJWG looks forward to the
operationalization of the NPRC's Complaints Handling and Investigations
Thematic Department so that victims may start approaching the NPRC with
their complaints regarding past violations to start the process of truth
seeking regarding those violations as the first step to realising justice and
healing. This press release may be accessed by visiting www.nprc.org.zw
and accessing the NPRC's Twitter handle.
Meeting Communities
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On the 5 of November 2019, Commissioner Chiradza and General
Managers Mrs Mawema and Mr Mashingaidze met with community-based
organizations and their members in Mukwada Village. NPRC urged the
community to explore collaborative rather than combative engagement
and to work towards transforming relationships with government and the
mining companies in line with the theme of the commemorations.
The Research and Knowledge Management Thematic
Department
On the 4th of November 2019, the NPRC introduced Introducing the