In a pensive mood the Co-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee, Mr. D. Mwonzora (left- in black suit) closely following proceedings with other members of Parliament during the Land, Environment and Natural Resources Constitutional Dialogue meeting organized for COPAC, parliamentarians and government departments.

The Zimbabwean Civil Society Organisations Cluster on Land, Environment and Natural Resources held a dialogue meeting with the Constitutional Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC), parliamentarians and government departments to lobby for the inclusion of environmental and natural resources rights of communities as part of the talking points on which consultations for public input into the constitutional reforms will be based. The COPAC is driving the constitutional reform process in Zimbabwe. The dialogue meeting was organized by Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) on the 9th of April 2010. ZELA is leading and creating a platform for the participation of environmental activists and organizations in the constitutional reform process. During the meeting CSOs raised concern on the absence of clear provisions or talking points on environmental and natural resources issues. The CSOs called for the revision of the talking points to include questions of environmental rights and natural resources and in particular access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision and policy making processes and the right of people to derive economic, environmental and social benefits from natural resources. Further, participants called for the protection of peoples’ rights to access and own land. In response, the Co-Chairman of COPAC, Hon. Mwonzora invited the environmentalists to submit their positions and views to COPAC for consideration. As a follow-up action the CSOs have adopted a position paper on constitutional environmental and land principles and rights as well as talking points that will be submitted to COPAC.