Politicians will gather at the Dáil today to express their opposition to human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
The Irish section of the Association of European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA) is expected to call for greater action against repression in the African country.
Organisers said they want to draw attention to the situation in Zimbabwe ahead of President Robert Mugabe's controversial appearance at the EU-African Union summit in Lisbon next month.
"Irish members of AWEPA have been forthright in their opposition to the use of violence and repression of human rights in Zimbabwe, especially following the beating of their fellow parliamentarian and opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, in March this year," an AWEPA spokesman said.
"That this human rights repression has taken place in the context of Zimbabwe's wider economic decline, where the UN says 45 per cent of the population is malnourished and where Aids has orphaned one million children, makes this action all the more urgent."
Fianna Fáil TD Barry Andrews will chair the meeting, which includes guest speakers, Otto Saki, the award-winning human rights lawyer and Mary Sandasi, the renowned women's rights and Aids awareness campaigner, both of whom are from Zimbabwe.
PA