The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) was conceptualised in the late 1990s as a Network of Civic Organisations, consisting of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) representing youth, women, students, churches, labour, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), and other sectors. The rationale was to coordinate civil society election-related activities, standardise methodologies, and ensure wider geographical coverage. The broad aim of the Network is to promote democracy and good governance in general and free and fair elections in particular. The vision of the ZESN is “a Zimbabwe where a democratic electoral environment and processes are upheld” and its mission is “to promote democratic elections in Zimbabwe” (ZESN, 2000). This chapter introduces the book that tracks the ZESN work since inception. The story is told directly from the perspectives of the members and the Network stakeholders.
The chapter shares the book outline, the methodology used to develop the book as well as a reflection on elections and democracy broadly. At inception, the ZESN’s work was organised into five subcommittees: Election Monitoring; Violence Monitoring; Civic and Voter Education (CVE); Research and Advocacy; and Media. Over time, these areas of focus have remained largely unchanged, with ZESN’s work currently organised into the following departmental programmes: Electoral Education and Capacity Building (EECB); Election Monitoring and Observation (M and
O); Advocacy for Electoral Reform; and Media and Information. The ZESN also has a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning Unit (MEAL). To effectively achieve the Network’s objectives, member organisations are grouped into task forces that implement activities all over the country, with the secretariat
facilitating the work.
