2.6.4 Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) MISA, at regional and national level, continues its support to and direct participation in the activities of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, an alliance of Zimbabwean media organizations including the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ), MISA-Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum. Alliance members and stakeholders were involved in a strategic planning workshop for MAZ in November 2006 which again reaffirmed its function as a cohesive and united front in the media support sector in Zimbabwe. A programme of activities were also identified. MISA will continue to support MAZ and its initiatives. 2.6.5 Media Programme Strategy for Zimbabwe The Media Programme Strategy for Zimbabwe is the result of a process that was initiated by Zimbabwean media organizations in 2003 during the “Let the People Speak” workshop in Harare, organized by key media actors in Zimbabwe jointly with the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NiZA). The workshop was attended by major national, regional and international media organizations who collectively identified the need to launch a collaborative partnership approach to add weight and effectively address challenges facing the media sector in Zimbabwe. MAZ was born out these considerations later in 2004. As part of this process MISA in 2005 facilitated an international conference on media support strategies to Zimbabwe. The conference played an integral role in identifying priorities for media assistance to Zimbabwe, which have in turn directly fed into defining the objectives and activities described in an overall strategy document. In addition, the conference highlighted the need for continued collaboration and coordination among national, African and international actors and donors to avoid duplication and ensure the effective and efficient use of the resources available. As such, a strategy document developed by International Media Support (IMS) outlines two distinct tracks. The first provides for a broad consultative process establishing a continual feedback and refinement process, thereby ensuring that the strategy is up to date and responsive to change. The second will be to prepare specific project documents and activities for interested donors (initially Norwegian authorities), thus facilitating the development of immediate and long-term support packages that falls within the broader strategic priorities. In this regard, the two tracks will allow any interested actor to step in and out of both the consultative process and project implementation tracks, thereby providing for flexible combined engagements based on individual institutional priorities and capacities. 2.6.6. Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ) MISA Botswana continued in 2006 to advocate for the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis to go beyond the “Silent Diplomacy” position employed by SADC governments. MISA and other stakeholders under the umbrella body named the Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition for Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ), began by commemorating the first year of Operation Murambatsvina through staging various activities from June 18th July 2-18, 2006. This was followed by public outcry after the brutal beatings and arrest of peacefully assembled people for a prayer beginning Sunday, March 11, 2007. MISA Botswana individually, as well as BOCISCOZ, issued numerous statements against the Zimbabwean government’s brutality on un armed civilians and challenged SADC to take a sterner Annual Report 2006 21