Rwanda Elections: Empowering Media and Civil Society
Rwanda is still in the process of building its democracy and remains one of the poorest nations in the world. The early months of 2010 have witnessed a marked in increase in what many commentators believe to be political intimidation and threats to the integrity of the democratic process. Current tensions have gone on to manifest themselves with low level violence; there has been a series of grenade attacks in the capital Kigali in recent months; official estimates are that the explosions killed seven people and injured at least 38 others. The impact of these developments on a free and vibrant democratic process is hugely significant. The 2010 elections have been held against the backdrop of Rwanda’s seemingly poor record for free and transparent electoral processes. The previous Presidential campaign in 2003 was bereft of any open political debate, and EU observers went on to criticise the landslide victory for the incumbent Paul Kagame as displaying numerous irregularities and, at worst, serious fraud. Rwanda’s politics are complex and for many citizens, the relationship between democracy and the ballot box is ambiguous. The forthcoming subsequent National Elections in 2011, will be a significant milestone for the development and deepening of democracy in Rwanda.
The project's activities include: 1. Baseline assessment: a one-month study to measure Rwanda’s media strengths and weaknesses, incorporating but not limited to: a. The level of Rwandan media knowledge on election and conflict-sensitive reporting b. Collaboration levels between media and government, and within the media c. Citizen and media knowledge-gaps on electoral issues and processes 2. Media training and capacity building (election themed) a. Training workshops for radio and print journalists b. On-site follow-up mentoring at media outlets c. Long-term support at the Internews Media Resource Centre 3. Weekly voter education radio programme: two series of twenty broadcasts (for the Presidential and then National Elections) will report on the link between elections and democracy. Content will include: a. Mass audience voter education participative video production b. A documentary film to educate voters on the electoral process c. Public screenings via mobile cinema followed by election Q&A sessions d. Widespread distribution of the video to a large section of the Rwandan population 5. Participatory theatre activities This series of events will inform and encourage essential civic participation in the elections. Activity design is founded on extensive prior electoral-theatre experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and West Africa.
The media is uniquely placed to offset the above challenges and hold the Rwandan elections accountable to international democratic standards. However, the context is challenging: Rwanda ranked 183 out of 195 countries for press freedom in 2008, according to Freedom House. With training and education, journalists can assist in maximising the transparency of electoral efforts and informing the public, both in the capital Kigali and in rural areas, of the ultimate destructiveness of political interference. To achieve this, the five million voters identified by the National Electoral Commission need access to credible and unbiased information. Drawing on Internews-SFCG’s extensive media assistance experience in Rwanda, ten radio stations and five print titles have been provisionally identified as the target groups for this action. It should be stressed that the radio stations constitute the primary target group and will benefit from the majority of media development interventions. Civic/Voter Education Communities across 30 districts in the five provinces make up an additional target group. These communities, which represent diversity of ethnicity, location and social dynamics, benefit from direct Internews-SFCG engagement through electoral education video screenings and participatory theatre activities. They also become valuable contributors to the ongoing performance management of the project.
Media Capacity Building: The reputation and capacity of Rwandan media to provide reliable and balanced reportage is still tarnished as a result of the destructive role played by some notable outlets in the genocide of 1994. This project uses a variety of training and capacity building approaches to address basic skills gaps and explore the reality of journalism in a society that is overwhelmingly lacking press freedom. Its activities seek to rebuild trust between the media, politicians and the citizenry at large. The project bridge the gaps left by Rwanda’s current information dissemination networks through a series of sustainable activities to create new platforms for reliable data on electoral processes. Civic and Electoral Education: Direct engagement with media audiences, representing a diversity of communities, is required above and beyond the passive dissemination of improved quality news stories and reports on the electoral process. This proposal incorporates innovative design elements that take critical voter education messages directly to the audiences who need them most; traditional radio and print media are be supported by high impact activities involving public video screenings and interactive theatre performances.
