Zimbabwe

* The senior Zimbabwean leadership in the UK of another denomination has expressed support for the fundraising reception on the evening of 30 September and pledged to send delegates;

 
* A bishop, and former pastor to another Zimbabwean community in England, hopes to attend in person.

 
This event is, in principle, open to Zimbabwean faith groups of all persuasions as well as to secular Zimbabwean charitable and philanthropic groups, a few of which have supported the project for years. What unites us all is a shared belief in the supreme value of the new Constitution of Zimbabwe under Almighty God in creating conditions for securing a state of peace and avoiding violence. However, for this to happen, every Zimbabwean child and young person must have a copy and understand what it says! At the same time IPP and its Zimbabwean partner are acutely aware of the drought affecting many parts of the home country. Hence the theme for the fundraising event is:

The background to the project is explained in these documents:

 
* The leaflet about the pilot project produced in late 2013 but still very relevant;

 
* The original Course Plan of the ‘Peace & The Constitution’ course  

N.B. Some of the lesson plans were modified in practice to take more account of local circumstances.

 
* The nomination of SIPD by IPP for a Zimbabwean Achievers Award which, although not successful in 2015, gives a good outline of the scope and potential of the project across Zimbabwe. SIPD is a non-governmental body based in Harare and registered with the government of Zimbabwe, #MA319/2008. It has a network of community hubs spreading across the country which were the backbone of the pilot project and are the basis for its future expansion. Embedded into local communities in town and country they would ensure that the new Constitution becomes a vehicle for peaceful conflict resolution based on:

(i) Material facts of real or imagined conflict situations;

(ii) Relevant constitutional principles (for school pupils and adult learners), as interpreted by the Zimbabwean courts or, in the absence of such guidance so far, the plain and literal sense of the words used in the Constitution;

(iii) The Golden Rule in applying principles to facts for conflict resolution (though without promoting any particular religion or philosophy), i.e treating others as we would wish to be treated ourselves.

Fundraising

* A model of funding for the project including drought relief is due to be discussed at the fundraising event which is intended to eventually involve as much of the Zimbabwean community in the United Kingdom as possible.

In the interim if you would like to provide a donation for the IPP/SIPD ‘Peace and The Constitution’ project please send your cheque payable to ‘International Peace Project’ to the contact address below. A gift aid declaration is available for UK tax payers to complete and send with their donation. All the funds provided will be transmitted to SIPD without deduction except for bank charges and a 5 per cent administrative charge to meet IPP expenses. IPP and SIPD closely monitor and report on their income and expenditure to ensure that donations are spent as intended. IPP annual accounts are being and will be independently examined (unless the annual income and expenditure are below GB£1,000) even though there is no statutory requirement to do this at present.

Contact details

Peter Southwood

Hon Secretary

International Peace Project

110 Purves Road

Kensal Rise

London NW10 5TB

England

Mobile no: 07513 636230

Email or Tweet 

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