The following is a summary of the recommendations the Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (OSISA) is making to SADC ahead of a Maputo meeting which seeks to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe.

Please note that the full version of this document can be downloaded below.

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ZIMBABWE: A WAY FORWARD

  Executive Summary

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) makes the following recommendations:

a)  That an ad-hoc delegation (sourced from South Africa in support of its mediation role or from SADC or the AU) be deployed with immediate effect to monitor and report on incidents of political violence and intimidation.

b) That SADC, as guarantor of the Global Political Agreement (and in its absence other regional or international entities), ensure effective implementation of the GPA and a definitive resolution of the outstanding issues as per the SADC communiqué of 26-27 January 2009, and in particular, secure an end to political violence and to partisan use of security forces, the legal system and other state apparatus.

c) That a comprehensive, standing presence of SADC and/or the AU be stationed in Zimbabwe until such time as a new Constitution has been drafted, that the draft has been submitted to referendum and that free and fair presidential and legislative elections have been held. And that the standing presence be coupled with a pooled fund, supported by the international donor community, overseen by sector experts, to ensure that education, health care, water sanitation services and food distribution remain uninterrupted