A collective effort is needed on behalf of all role-players in order to grasp the opportunity offered by the March 2005 elections in Zimbabwe to end the crisis currently gripping the country, according to a new International Crisis Group report. The report encouraged the African Union to maintain a watchful eye on the human rights situation before the 2005 parliamentary elections, including by sending a team of experts by 1 January 2005 to assess the electoral environment, and support implementation of the SADC principles and guidelines by the Zimbabwe government. For its part the international community should support the efforts of African states and institutions to achieve free and fair parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe in 2005. The ICG report also recommended to the Movement for Democratic Change that it decide to contest the parliamentary elections, even if it is not possible to obtain at this stage absolute guarantees that they will be conducted in a fully free and fair manner.