Britain Zimbabwe Society (BZS)

Open Forum 2005 on Zimbabwe, South Africa & The Region

Concept

The Open Forum 2005 on Zimbabwe , South Africa and the Region is designed to be an inclusive, non-partisan, non-governmental forum to analyse and debate the crisis in Zimbabwe, and its relationship with South Africa and the wider African region.

It will focus, in particular, on the role of civil society in Africa in defending human rights, and the institutional instruments available to it to use in promoting change.

The Open Forum 2005 will be organised in London on Saturday 4 June 2005 by the Britain Zimbabwe Society in association with the Zimbabwe Association, the International Liaison Office of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, the REDRESS Trust, the Canon Collins Educational Trust for Southern Africa, End the Silence, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), Article 19, the Centre of African Studies, London University, and the Royal Africa Society (RAS).

Aims

1. To bring together the Zimbabwean and South African diasporas in the UK, with participants from other African countries and the British constituency of interest in Southern Africa
2. To inform and educate about current developments in the region appertaining to Zimbabwe's relations with South Africa and other African countries and the response of civil society to the Zimbabwean crisis
3. To stimulate and support an open, inclusive and constructive debate on the promotion of democratic governance, human rights, justice and peace in Zimbabwe
4. To support the ongoing advocacy efforts by civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the region in defence of these goals in Zimbabwe
5. To promote and facilitate networking and relationship building between individuals and civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the region, and with the wider international constituency of support

Expected outcomes

1. Awareness - deeper understanding of Zimbabwe's relations with South Africa and the region, and the potential of civil society organisations in promoting change
2. Networking - stronger links between civil society organisations and individuals from Zimbabwe, elsewhere in Africa and internationally
3. Advocacy - support for civil society advocacy efforts directed at the Zimbabwean, South Africa and other concerned governments in Africa and elsewhere

Format and programme

The Open Forum will be held in the Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. The programme will be divided into two sessions, each addressed by a panel of speakers, chaired by a facilitator who will encourage discussion and interaction amongst panelists and audience.

The two sessions will run from 2.00-3.30pm and 4.00-5.30pm with a 30 minute refreshment break. They will focus on two central themes:

Theme 1 - Human rights instruments as tools for civil society

The number of organs and instruments emanating from the African Union (AU) that offer to deliver human rights to Zimbabweans has grown considerably in recent years. But their real implications for ordinary people remain limited and remote. What are their possibilities? How can they be used most effectively? As legislation within Zimbabwe increasingly inhibits civil organization, do the instruments of the AU offer avenues for resisting or challenging state power? How do rights even offer simple protection or basic remedies to ordinary people? Is it realistic to even consider that they might be more ambitious instruments of transformation?

Theme 2 - An anti-imperialist framework for understanding Zimbabwe

One of ZANU PF's key strategies has been to present its draconian and anti-democratic actions as anti-imperialist measures in a continuing process of liberation for Zimbabwe.

This strategy is designed to do four key things:
1. to polarize politics ("you are either for us or for the colonial oppressors")
2. to make it impossible for an alternative indigenous opposition to emerge
3. to disqualify any external support, particularly from Britain, the former colonizer
4. to label any externally voiced critique of the ZANU analysis as neo-imperialist

ZANU has sought to use its strategy to monopolise the terrain of post-imperial critique. It does not allow space for a more nuanced analysis that might acknowledge the same colonial history while not automatically discounting any possibility of the participation of post-imperial states in effective restructuring of economic relations.

To unlock solidarity and support from civil society organizations outside of Zimbabwe (particularly in Britain), a clear analysis is needed. A rejection of Mugabe's anti-imperialist rhetoric needs to be reconcilable with support for initiatives such as the Make Poverty History campaign. The grain of truth in the rhetoric has to be distinguished from the hyperbole that surrounds it, by situating Zimbabwe within its historical, political, and economic contexts.

The aim of both sessions together is to reach a clearer understanding of the Zimbabwean government's relationships within the region and internationally, and to contribute to developing strategy for civil society organizations in South Africa, the region and Britain.

Publicity and promotion

The Forum will be publicised as widely and inclusively as possible, with invitations issued to a range of Zimbabwean, South African and African organisations based in the UK, and to UK organisations with an interest in Zimbabwe and the region.

Background

The Open Forum 2005 is a follow-up to the well-attended event which the Britain Zimbabwe Society organised in London on 28th February 2004 in association with a number of other organisations (ref: Report on the Open Forum on Zimbabwe and South Africa, 28th February 2004, BZS).

Open Forum 2005 will follow the model of the first Open Forum in seeking to attract a large and diverse audience and encouraging their participation, ideas and perspectives.

Margaret Ling, Information Officer, Britain Zimbabwe Society
and convenor of Open Forum 2005 working group

Tel 020 8348 8463
Email margaret.ling@geo2.poptel.org.uk
25 Endymion Road, London N4 1EE

For the Open Forum Programme click here

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