The Research and Advocacy Unit [RAU] is an independent, non-governmental organisation. Its Mission is to provide high-quality research for the purposes of relevant and current policy change. RAU is run by a Management Committee composed of experienced researchers and advocacy experts.RAU’s work to date has focused on three major areas that are important in the current crisis in Zimbabwe: Women, Displacements, and Governance. RAU works with a wide variety of Zimbabwean, regional, and international partners in connection with the above areas. RAU also provides independent analyses of important current issues in Zimbabwe, ranging from elections, the Global Political Agreement, legal matters, etc.

Set up in 2006, RAU has produced over 100 reports and opinion pieces on a wide variety of topics. Some reports are issued in RAU’s own name, whilst others are issued in the name of our partner organisations. RAU is a member of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and has a long-standing partnership with Idasa.

RAU also runs a programme for assisting victims of organised violence and torture, the Tree of Life [ToL]. The programme revolves around a victim-to-victim healing and empowerment process, and, to date, has assisted over 800 individuals, begun community assistance to four communities, provided training to 11 organizations, and trained 62 facilitators. ToL itself has directly assisted 289 survivors.

RAU, in pursuit of better advocacy, also produces documentary videos to compliment the reports that it produces. In partnership with New York-based WITNESS, RAU has produced two widely respected documentary films.