Under its constitutional mandate the NPRC and  in recognition that the country has historically been characterized by episodes of conflict during elections – constraining prospects for credible and legitimate transitions; as well compromising the legitimacy of the elected government, the 2018 integrated election strategy acts as an instrument that helps the following:

1. NPRC as one of the Chapter 12 institutions acts within it mandate in the elections and clearly articulates its objectives; and
2. Clearly articulate the NPRC role in electoral processes and environment

Through its Prevention and Non-Recurrence Committee the strategy’s contribution towards peaceful elections in Zimbabwe by:

1. Ensured timely analysis, scenario planning and response to conflict risks before, during and after elections as a foundation for long term peace and development in the country;
2. Sustained strengthening national levelcommitment to Credible and Peaceful elections of key Political Actors, Security Sector, Police, Traditional Leaders and Youth among others;
3. Mobilizing commitment for Peaceful elections from Presidential Candidates from all political parties before, during and after elections; and
4. Mobilizing the nation for peaceful co-existence before, during and after elections through sustained messaging, dialogue, confidence building and engagement.

As elections come and go and the NPRC will continue to engage in electoral processes through:

• The Prevention and Peace Building mandate is not an end in itself but is processes and mechanisms that seek to help a nation not slide back into violent conflict while simultaneously recognising conflict is an everyday life process;
• Regular peace messaging through multiple medium including periodic press-briefing sessions on the state of peacefulness before, during and after elections; and
• Constitute and sustain a  Multi-Stakeholder Sub-Committee for Conflict Prevention (with a focus on Early Warning, Early Response)

One of the key priorities for the NPRC in 2018 was the development of its 5-year Strategic Plan, to outline its vision, goals, priorities and programmatic activities to be undertaken as part of implementing its constitutional mandate. Towards this goal, the NPRC identified three inter-linked pathways towards the development of the plan. The first was the Provincial Stakeholder Consultations in the ten provinces of Zimbabwe to gather views from citizens on priorities to inform the plan. The second was a National Convergence and Validation Conference, convened as a multi-stakeholder forum to further verify the outcomes of the provincial consultations. The third was a Strategic Planning Retreat to develop a skeletal plan with indicative priorities.

In tandem to the preparatory efforts, the NPRC undertook other activities in response to the immediate needs in the country, especially the 2018 harmonised elections. The NPRC developed its integrated Election Strategy. The overall goal of the election strategy is to contribute towards credible and peaceful elections by mobilising collaborative and multi-stakeholder responses to conflict risks before, during and after the elections. The second activity was a multi-stakeholder platform for conflict early warning and risk analysis to ensure enhanced national level preparedness for timely response. The third activity was the initiation of high-level confidence building measures involving traditional leaders, women’s organisations, youth groups, victim groups, political parties and the broader rule of law agencies, culminating into a national Peace Pledge initiative. This provided a launch pad for the NPRC’s prevention and peace building mandate.