Government stakeholders meeting MISA participated in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services’ strategic planning meeting in Vumba on 13 November 2023. MISA lobbied the Ministry to prioritise the safety and security of the media by adopting the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists. Outcome The Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana said the Ministry had taken note of the need to adopt the UN Plan of Action and build on the positive feedback on the media operating environment during the 2023 elections. This also demonstrates MISA Zimbabwe’s thought leadership in pushing for comprehensive media legislative reforms in Zimbabwe. The Government also reiterated its commitment to co-regulation of the media as proposed under the Zimbabwe Media Practitioners Bill. He said there was no need to amend the Freedom of Information Act to allow citizens to seek information from private entities because the law already allowed for this through the Constitution (Section 62 on Access to Information). State of the media operating env ironment meeting On 19 May 2023 MISA Zimbabwe convened an all-stakeholders engagement meeting in Harare on the state of the media environment ahead of the 2023 elections. outcome Deputy Minister of Information, Honourable Kindness Paradza, gave updates on the status of the Zimbabwe Media Practitioners Bill and Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill. He said the principles for the Media Practitioners Bill had since been approved by Cabinet and instructions given to the Attorney General’s Office to draft the Bill. Honourable Paradza said the thorny issue of dual accreditation would be scrapped through the Electoral Amendment Bill. The Deputy Minister said government had also instructed ZBC to freely cover any Zimbabwean who has anything to say about the elections, including the opposition. Political parties lobby meetings MISA Zimbabwe held one-on-one lobby meetings with political parties namely Zanu PF, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and MDC-T at their respective offices in Harare as part of efforts to ensure a conducive 19 MISA Zimbabwe Annual Report 2023