Media Pledge Representatives of private and public mainstream media signed the Harmonised Elections Media Code of Conduct Pledge on 10 August 2023. The Pledge committed the media to professionalism and fair coverage of the 2023 elections while also promoting peace. Other organisations that signed the Pledge included Zimpapers, Zimbabwe Media Commission, MISA and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. https://www.chronicle.co.zw/media-houses-sign-professionalism-peace-pledge-ahead-ofThe Pledge, endorsed by the Government of Zimbabwe, was an initiative pushed by MISA Zimbabwe at an all stakeholders meeting on the media’s coverage of the 2023 elections convened by the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) in conjunction with UNESCO in Mutare on 10 -11 July 2023. outcome Zimbabwe’s media, comprising state-owned, private and community media, campus radio stations and freelance journalists, committed themselves to the highest ethical standards in the coverage of the 2023 elections. The pledge was endorsed by the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), Zimbabwe Media Commission, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and political parties, among other key stakeholders. Election observer missions to the 2023 elections noted improvement in the coverage of the elections. MEDIA REFORMS Police-Media Engagement Meetings MISA Zimbabwe, in conjunction with key stakeholders, took various steps and interventions to secure a conducive media operating environment ahead of Zimbabwe’s 2023 harmonised elections, resulting in the vastly improved safety and security environment for the country’s journalists and media workers. Several meetings were held with the police and political parties to secure a conducive media operating environment ahead of the 2023 elections in terms of the Police-Media Action Plan of December 2017. 16 MISA Zimbabwe Annual Report 2023