The Global Zimbabwe Forum (GZF) is pleased to announce that it has successfully set up a new national chapter that will be co-ordinated by a local Interim Committee.
The Interim Committee was set up on Saturday 21st August 2010 at the Gaborone Sun hotel on the sidelines of a national consultation workshop for Zimbabweans living in Botswana.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Zimbabwe office was the host of the main event.
The event was part of the preparations of a face-to-face meeting with some senior Zimbabwean government ministries officials that will be held on Saturday 28thAugust 2010 at the same venue.
The terms of reference for the Interim Committee have been summed up as follows:
1. To be the main representative and facilitator of any events/issues related to Zimbabweans resident in Botswana as from 21st August 2010 to 31st March 2010.
2. To help organise a national conference to be attended by representatives of Zimbabwean organisations that are actively based in Botswana by the end of March 2011. The same conference will adopt a constitution for the GZF Botswana chapter and also elect a substantive executive Committee.
3. To conduct a credible mapping exercise and survey across Botswana and develop a reliable database of all Zimbabwean organisations in the country together with a list of prominent Zimbabweans in Botswana from various and diverse sectors/communities.
4. To develop the administrative capacity of the GZF Botswana chapter by coming up with a strategy for fundraising for the financial and programme needs of the chapter.
5. To develop a public awareness strategy that will help Zimbabweans in Botswana to know more about each other and work together as a community under the facilitation of the GZF Botswana chapter.
6. To help develop a credible public process of engagement of Zimbabweans in Botswana with both the relevant departments of the host Botswana government, the local Zimbabwean embassy, the relevant government ministries back home in Zimbabwe and to provide linkages with the broader Zimbabwean Diaspora communities.
The GZF Botswana Interim Committee consists of the following members:
