RAU| Research and Advocacy Unit

Jul 25
2023

Policy Dialogue Series: Policy Brief No. 3 2023 Debt Restructuring, ZIDERA and the 2023 Elections: A Preview

This policy briefing implores the latest efforts by key stakeholders to foster international re-engagement with Zimbabwe, spearheaded by the African Development Bank (ADB) in the creation of a debt relief strategy. It concludes that the Arrears Clearance and Debt Relief Process is laudable in its intent and will remain a work in very preliminary process until the dust settles after the election, it also highlighted that the process of clearing arrears and resolving debt is not merely a question of the quantitative amounts, but also the quality of the debt: essentially, all the hard questions about how a debt was acquired, who was involved, and how the debt was managed.

Jun 27
2023

Will the youth vote in 2023, for who, and why?

This report uses data from the Afrobarometer, to examine whether the youth will vote; how the youth might vote; and how they might react to yet another disputed election. The data suggests the effects of political violence, sustained economic deprivation, and a lack of political trust -in the state, the government, political parties, and government officials – have resulted in a youth cohort that displays little agency.

Jun 20
2023

How Will Women (and Young Women) Fare in the 2023 Elections in Zimbabwe?

This report makes a prediction on how women and young women will fare in the forthcoming 2023 elections based on evidence from past elections and the current conditions as the nation approaches the plebiscite. The report highlights that increasing women’s representation, and facilitating young women’s agency, requires the overcoming of the structural (electoral), economic, social, and cultural barriers that now exist in overwhelming abundance. More so, it stresses that First-Post-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system and the gender quota have been thriving at the expense of directly elected women.

Jun 09
2023

Democracy in Trouble Globally: How is SADC faring?

This report explores how democracy is fairing in the SADC region using a variety of democracy indicators. The report underline that electoral democracies demonstrate a tendency towards good governance, low corruption, political rights for citizens, and press freedom in contrast electoral autocracies are lacking in many of these attributes. It further highlights that SADC has some star performers, such as the Seychelles and Botswana, and recently Zambia on the other hand, Angola, Comoros, the DRC, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe are perceived as electoral autocracies.

May 24
2023

Understanding the Pre-Election Climate in Zimbabwe

This report provides links of 10 policy dialogues that audit the pre election environment in Zimbabwe. The dialogues were hosted by RAU in collaboration with SAPES Trust, to help our stakeholders assess the dialogues easily we provided links to the policy briefs and YouTube videos in the report.

May 16
2023

Best Practices in Elections: Can Zimbabwe meet these in 2023?

This monograph gives a review of elections in Zimbabwe since 2000, and highlights the electoral processes towards the 2023 elections in Zimbabwe based on a frame of five Pillars originally posed in the first Dialogue in August 2022. This report is based on nine previous Election Policy Dialogues hosted by RAU and SAPES trust to audit the pre-election environment. It examines all aspects of the pre-election climate of the 2023 elections, and comes to a conclusion that the electoral processes prior to the 2023 elections show a bias towards the ruling party.

May 10
2023

Elections in 2023: Has Zimbabwe passed the audit on the pre-election process?

This Policy Briefing makes an analysis of the nine previous Election Policy Dialogues organised around the five Pillars originally posed in the first Dialogue in August 2022. The dialogues sought to determine whether the electoral processes prior to the 2023 elections meet the standards of best practice. The conclusions from these dialogues were unanimously negative, pointing out that many recommendations by international observers from 2018 had been ignored.

Apr 27
2023

Elections 2023 Webinar Series: Policy Brief No. 4 2023 Is There Freedom of Information and Association Ahead of the Elections in 2023?

This policy briefing assesses whether there is freedom of Information and Association Ahead of the Elections in 2023. These freedoms are pivotal during elections as they ensure citizens make well-informed decisions. It concludes that the current conditions do not suggest that the conditions around Information as a crucial Pillar in elections – both freedom of information and freedom of association – are present currently

Reports