Shamiso Mtisi of ZELA addressing the Environment and Land Cluster meeting on the Constitutional reform process in Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) is coordinating and facilitating the participation of civil society organisations from the land and environment sector in the ongoing Constitutional Reform Process in Zimbabwe. ZELA was mandated by the Civil Society Constitutional Coordinating Committee to lead the Land and Environment Cluster to effectively participate in the Constitution making process. A number of cluster meetings have already been held and through these meetings and forums ZELA is advocating for the inclusion of access rights in the Constitution using lessons from The Access Initiative work. Specific demands on environmental rights include the recognition of the right of access to environmental information, the right to participate in environmental decision making processes and the right of every person to an environment that is not harmful to health or wellbeing. ZELA is also demanding that these rights be guaranteed as fundamental rights under the Bill of Rights section of the new Constitution as opposed to being set as guidelines and principles. Noteworthy, the Constitutional Reform process in Zimbabwe is a result of the Global Political Agreement that was signed between the country’s three main political parties in September 2008 whose objectives also included coming up with a new Constitution for Zimbabwe. The consultation process is expected to be finalised in the next 16 months, upon which the Draft Constitution will be subjected to a Referendum. On a different note, ZELA is also working with the Environmental Management Agency under The Access Initiative (TAI) to develop a Communication Plan that would assist the Agency in providing information to the public.