Media for Reconciliation in Rwanda
Radio and Film supporting demobilization and reintegration in Rwanda
Context and Issue:
The Great Lakes region has been heavily destabilised over the last two decades. Since the Rwanda Genocide of 1994, renewed tensions and violent conflict have been manifest between both Congolese and Rwandan communities and within Rwandan communities themselves. For generations in this region, the concept of ethnicity has been exploited for political and resource gains. Local populations have been terrorised and displaced in the flux of a conflict in which the national armies of both Rwanda and DRC have been involved in the fight with or against a number of armed groups, most significantly the FDLR (Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda). In recent years, significant strides forward have been taken as former FDLR rebels have been encouraged and supported to return to their homelands in Rwanda through the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program (DDR). However, it continues to be acknowledged that the pace of demobilization has been slow. The stakeholders in the process recognise that the communications and outreach dimension of the effort needs revitalising. The affected communities share common values, customs and face similar challenges. However, there is a pressing need to address the barriers of distrust and intercultural miscommunication that still hamper the demobilisation and reconciliation process.
Project's activities:
Together with the local partner Radio Izuba, radio programs on demobilization are produced by Rwandan and Congolese journalists. Support is provided through workshops and production training to establish it as a regular programme strand. All produced programmes are broadcast on four partner radio stations in Rwanda and six in DRC reaching a potential audience of 8 million listeners. Five video documentaries are also being produced. The themes, suggested to Internews by various communities, cover demobilisation, orphans, gender and combatant families. Cross-border documentary screenings via mobile facilities in Rwanda reach 15,000 viewers in popular gathering places across a range of urban, semi-urban, and village environments with a special focus in areas frequented by ex-combatants and militias.
Participants and Beneficiaries:
Around 15000 Rwandan & Congolese Citizens living along the Rwanda/Congolese border are invited to public screening events. These communities are in most urgent need of access to information, views and personal accounts of FDLR demobilization in order to fully appreciate and support the process. News reporters and presenters of ten community radio stations in Rwanda participate in training, capacity building and mentoring activities and become better equipped for professional reportage of complex, cross-border reconciliation issues. The final and largest beneficiary group are the 8 million citizens, including active and demobilized FDLR combatants who represent the Mass Media Audience.
Outcomes:
The action builds the capacity of media outlets not only by assisting them to create and distribute a higher quality of product, but also to realise their potential as sustainable entities based on the popularity of their product. The activities equip immediate beneficiaries, partner media, trainee journalists and civil society representatives, with hard skills and resources that are sustainable beyond the life of the project, including by equipment donations to radio beneficiaries, while also impacting the wider constituency of the media audience. Each project beneficiary is encouraged to foster sustainable relationships with partners displaying mutual interests and concerns. These relationships and networks further enhance the sustainability of the hard technical and capacity development that will be achieved during the life of the project.
"We will not manage to demobilise FLDR combatants by force, but with your movies, they will decide themselves to go back to Rwanda."
Congolese taxi driver
