Violence, which appears to be deeply entrenched in the political culture of Zimbabwe, has become a major concern to citizens, neighbours, regional and international community. It is worrying that all recent elections have been marred with violence, which in some cases claimed hundreds of lives.
In order to play their part in addressing the problem of violence and its impact on communities, churches and civil society organizations in Zimbabwe came together to develop a framework on National Healing, Reconciliation, Integration and Prevention of Violence. The result was the formation of the Church and Civil Society Forum (CCSF).
The CCSF recognizes the potential value addition of an Early Warning System (EWS) in so far as it can help promote early responses to prevent occurrence or escalation of conflict. In this regard, the CCSF is considering establishing a Violence Early Warning System. Before establishing the proposed EWS, the CCSF decided to undertake a background study to review existing literature, draw lessons from other countries and regions on EWSs and to capture members’ and stakeholders’ expectations on the relevance, form, character and expected value addition of a CCSF Violence EWS.
This study was qualitative. It employed primary and secondary data collection methods.
