Supporting Key Actors to Mitigate Conflicts in the Great · PDF fileSupporting Key Actors to Mitigate Conflicts in the Great Lakes M/OAA/DCHA/DOFDA-08-319 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND

Supporting Key Actors to Mitigate Conflicts in the Great Lakes

M/OAA/DCHA/DOFDA-08-319

SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND FINAL REPORT TO:

The U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Conflict Management and Mitigation Office

through the Great Lakes Regional Platform: USAID/East Africa

Project Dates: September 30, 2008-September 29, 2010

Frances FortuneDirector, Africa

Search for Common Ground 44 Bathurst Street Freetown, Sierra Leone

+232 76 60 30 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Contents

Contents......................................................................................................................................................2

1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................3

2. Context....................................................................................................................................................4

3. Project Activities......................................................................................................................................5

4. Results...................................................................................................................................................14

5. Project Evaluations and Effects.............................................................................................................18

6. Challenges and Lessons Learned............................................................................................................22

“Supporting Key Actors to Mitigate Conflicts in the Great Lakes” Project

1. IntroductionBetween September 2008 and September 2010, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) implemented a regional conflict mitigation project in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, supported by USAID’s Office for Conflict Management and Mitigation. The project leveraged SFCG's history of working for conflict transformation within each of these countries to build connections among across all three societies. This project contributed to SFCG’s regional goal of inspiring key people from diverse groups to become actors of social change to actively contribute to peace and reconciliation in their communities and the region.

The project had two objectives:

• To stimulate the exchange of information around regional conflict and reconciliation issues; and• To improve the skills of media practitioners to highlight common regional interests and address

conflict responsibly.

During the course of the project, SFCG undertook a series of four complementary activities contributing to these overall objectives, each targeting a different set of social actors: (1) Outreach activities targeting educated university and secondary school students, the future leaders of the region (2) Theater activities aimed at teaching new schools to the region's artists and helping them deploy them to solve local problems (3) trainings aimed at building the capacity of the region's media professionals, combined with joint productions and (4) a special radio series aimed at informing the politically-interested public on changing political relations between Rwanda and the DRC.

To implement these activities project, SFCG brought its national-level networks and resources to bear in a coherent and strategic way, addressing cross-cutting issues that fuel violence in the region and impede conflict mitigation and reconciliation efforts. Seven regional trainings with journalists from Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC were organized to reinforce best practices in conflict sensitive journalism, while reinforcing regional collaboration among journalists. In total, 47 journalists were trained, including 11 women. Follow-up evaluations with trainees documented more than a dozen concrete real-world initiatives that came from out of the trainings, as well as a degree of retention and knowledge transfer by the journalists who participated.

SFCG with a network of youth partners to organize discussion forums between university students around the region, using an innovative radio platform, trained 500 youth leaders in the DRC to help them better understand repatriation – one of the most sensitive regional conflict issues. Quiz-show competitions were organized for 626 high school students around the region, using the Duel des Jeunes Démocrates (“Duel of Young Democrats”) school and radio program.

Three regional workshops for theater groups were organized and culminated with a Great Lakes Regional Theater Festival to celebrate cultural identity and diversity of the Great Lakes, leveraging a popular

Page 3 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


cultural tool for social change. A total of 103 actors were trained during the workshops and about 3,700 people participated in the festival.

Additionally, SFCG produced a series of 12 radio programs, called “Convergences”, that provided information on the peace talks on the North Kivu conflict. Surveys showed that the program reached a likely audience numbering in the hundreds of thousands, particularly targeting the hardened attitudes among the region's educated class.

Despite initial “growing pains” linked to the complicated cross-border management challenges, the program met or exceeded eight of its nine output targets, only falling short in the number of radio programs produced, as SFCG and its partners opted to develop 12 higher-quality, resource intensive programs including field reporting, rather than 20 live programs.

Of the program's five outcomes it made significant contributions to achieving each outcome, and achieved satisfactory or very satisfactory results on each of the associated indicators.

• Greater understanding of regional conflict factors and potential solutions to these problems; • Improved capacity by participating journalists in common ground production approaches;• Improved capacity of Youth University Forum members to apply conflict transformation and

dialogue techniques to address their concerns and advocate for their needs;• Increased capacity of theater groups to use conflict transformation and participatory theater

techniques in their creative work;• More information is available around the region on the Goma Conference peace talks,

addressing the last remaining violent conflict in the region.

This project was the subject of several evaluation exercises, each studying a different program outcome, the context in which the project was implemented, and the program's broader social impact. These findings are including in the fifth section of the report, as well as in the evaluation reports themselves, which are attached as annexes.

2. Context

Over the two years of the implementation of the project, the context of the region has evolved significantly. The history of violent conflicts in Burundi, Rwanda and DRC are inextricably related. The cross-border involvement of government and individuals in neighbors' conflicts has soured relations at the political and popular level, reinforcing stereotypes, grievances and misinformation. A number of recent initiatives, particularly between Rwanda and the DRC, have begun to address these problems and facilitate rapprochement. Rwandan President Paul Kagame participated in the DRC’s 50 th anniversary of Independence celebration in Kinshasa, and a new Congolese Ambassador to Rwanda has recently been appointed after several years without a presence. Burundi and Rwanda's accession to the East African community will deepen those nations' economic integration with each other, as well as with the broader



region's economy. Furthermore, initiatives by the CEPGL (Communaute Economique des Pays des Grands Lacs) has made strides towards deepening regional economic integration.

Still, these changes at the higher levels of regional relations have not yet spurred attitudinal change among the general public, and inter-group stereotypes and suspicions remain strong. The history of conflict, as well as negative media depictions of neighboring countries, political manipulation, and the lack of cross-border contact in some regions will only be overcome slowly.

Over the project life, each of the three countries saw internal political developments that led some observers to worry about decreasing political space and social dialogue. In Rwanda, economic development led by the current government has shown strong results, with notable gains in terms of international investment, rising GDP, and growing export opportunities. However, many outside analysts have been concerned, claiming that the political stability that facilitated this growth has come at the cost of limitations on civil liberties and political participation. The 2010 elections confirmed the victory of incumbent President Paul Kagame, with 92% of the vote. In the run-up to the election, two major opposition candidates were jailed, isolated grenade attacks were carried out, a journalist was assassinated, two newspapers were suspended, and several other assassinations were attempted against dissidents at home and abroad.

Elections in Burundi signaled the country’s continuing fragility, disappointing many who hoped a robust democratic election would solidify the nation's fledgling democracy. After alleging fraud in the communal elections in which 60% of seats went to the ruling CNDD-FDD, most opposition parties joined in a boycott of presidential and legislative elections. The campaign period saw 60 grenade attacks reported, 8 people killed, and more than 50 people wounded. The effects of the boycott have been exacerbated by the flight of Rwandaaa Agathon, the president of the dissident FNL, who has still not been located, as well as the departure of three other opposition party leaders: Nyangoma Léonard, Alexis Sinduhije, and Pascaline Kampayano. In the absence of information of their destinations and intentions, rumors have begun to circulate, particularly outside of the capital, about a new rebellion being planned and isolated reports have begun to trickle in of abuses by security forces. These developments have increased political tensions in the country, while also negatively affecting the legitimacy of the new government.

Within the DRC, delays in setting out the legal framework to implement decentralization as outlined in the 2006 constitution and in preparing elections led some Congolese and international observers to question the commitment of the Kabila government to democratic consolidation, as institutional reform seemed to languish. The high-profile assassination of human rights activist Floribert Chibeya, journalist Didace Namujambo, and several other journalists and civil society leaders, as well as the closure of several media outlets threatened the freedom of expression for dissident voices. Still, some progress has been made towards stabilization since the project began, although many parts of the eastern DRC are still home to local and foreign armed groups carrying out attacks against civilians. Military operations by the Congolese army (the FARDC) have led to human rights including pillage, extortion, forced labor and rape. In a dramatic political shakeup, in January 2009, the Congolese and Rwandan governments announced joint military operations against the Rwandan rebel Hutu militias active in eastern DRC, while arresting the dissident General Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese Tutsi hitherto perceived as a Rwandan ally in the region, and integrating the remainder of his organization into the Congolese army. This collaboration between the countries helped overcome the hostilities between the two governments that Page 5 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


have lasted for decades, but neither these joint operations, nor their follow-up operations yielded the hoped-for definitive victory. In December 2009, Uganda, DRC and Southern Sudan launched a coordinated offensive against the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), although the operation ended without comprehensively eradicating the LRA presence in the DRC.

The window created by political rapprochement, as well as increased technology, has nonetheless created the opportunity for emerging regional consciousness among civil society, youth, and other like-minded groups. Such networks, encouraged through people-to-people dialogues such as those in this project, hold the potential to encourage in new sorts of conversations about the region's future promoting long-term change.

3. Project ActivitiesDuring the course of the project, SFCG undertook a series of four complementary activities contributing to the project's overall objectives, each targeting a different set of social actors: (1) Outreach activities targeting educated university and secondary school students, the future leaders of the region (2) Theater activities aimed at teaching new schools to the region's artists and helping them deploy them to solve local problems (3) trainings aimed at building the capacity of the region's media professionals, combined with joint productions and (4) a special radio series aimed at informing the politically-interested public on changing political relations between Rwanda and the DRC.

Great Lakes Student Outreach ActivitiesThe Great Lakes Inter-University and Youth Forum is an organization that creates space for university students from Rwanda, DRC, and Burundi to debate and discuss issues specifically facing youth in the region. Over the first quarter of the project, university students used the IUYF as a forum to create listening clubs and discuss topics presented in “Génération Grand Lacs” (GGL) a regional radio call-in program. Funded by USAID-Rwanda and other partners, GGL brought together young journalists from the three countries to design weekly programs that were simultaneously broadcast live on radio stations across the region, taking listener calls and encouraging on-air discussion of sensitive issues. IUYF's Listening Clubs gave feedback and suggestions inform the radio program's development, help monitor impact, and reach out to non-radio listeners.

SFCG proposed to work with IUYF to organize exchanges among the region's youth, Page 6 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011

The Duel des Jeunes Democrates is a memorable experience in the lives of its young participants, selected among the best and the brightest of their schools. Evaluations have shown that many months after the program participants remember details of the show, and many become inspired to become more engaged in their communities.


leveraging the partnership within the GGL program. Rather than organizing physical exchanges, with the incumbent per diems, transport costs, hotels, etc for a limited number of participants, SFCG worked with the IUYF to reinforce the listening club program to encourage on-air exchanges through the GGL program. SFCG equipped the listening clubs with telephones and phone credits, to stimulate a regional discussion among listening groups live on the air. Each group regularly telephoned into the studio when GGL is broadcast from their country, to put their views on air and actively contribute to the debate among youth in the region.

Additionally, under this project, SFCG committed to building the capacity of IUYF youth leaders for conflict transformation. In order to strengthen the Forum and its leaders to effectively transform the region's conflicts, SFCG and the IUYF focused on building the organizational capacity of the IUYF itself, including building the financial and program management skills to carry out their mission. SFCG DRC’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer trained the IUYF leadership in Kigali on how to monitor and implement conflict transformation programs.

Following the conclusion of the partnership with IUYF for the listening clubs, SFCG partnered with another regional youth group, the Collectif des Organisations des Jeunes Solidaires du Congo (COJESKI), a network of 340 young people’s organizations with a strong record of implementing activities with SFCG and USAID, in order to deliver trainings on governance and conflict resolution. The shift from IUYF to COJESKI for the training element of the project was driven by the COJESKI's stronger grassroots network, and ability to implement complex programs independently. The trainings were organized for youth leaders in Fizi, Uvira, Kalehe, and Bukavu in North and South Kivu in the DRC and focused on explosive regional issues. While each training aimed to build general conflict management skills, the trainings focused on pertinent issues to each training group. Six of the trainings focused on Refugees and Displaced people, a flashpoint issue as communities in the DRC seek the return of Rwandan and Burundian refugees on their soil, while the return of Congolese in neighboring countries remains problematic. Three trainings focused specifically on conflict resolution skills for youth leaders at the grassroots level, and the final training focused on rumor management. In all, the training program reached 500 youth leaders.

Following the training program, participants expressed general satisfaction and made several recommendations, including expanding to additional geographic areas, and sought follow-up activities and other ways to get involved, either as a network or through individual professional development through internships or other training activities.

Additionally, SFCG and a network of youth groups built on the success of the GGL program to undertake another series of cross-border outreach and radio activities aimed at school age youth. Using the format of a quiz show, the program organized the Regional Duel des Jeunes Démocrates (DJD) featuring secondary schools from around the region, competing to answer increasingly tricky questions about evolving regional relations. Themes highlighted both recent changes, for example changes to border rules within the CEPGL as well as sensitive issues such as citizenship and refugees. The program was produced in border regions in order to include youth all three countries. Each event was surrounded by discussion sessions and activities aimed at building cohesion among the young participants in order to Page 7 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


foment long-term attitudinal change, particularly as secondary students will eventually grow into leadership positions within each of their countries.

In a series of three events, DJD tournaments brought together 626 participants from different schools for multi-day events. The first event was held between the major border towns of Goma, DRC and Gisenyi, Rwanda. The second was held between Bujumbura, Burundi and Uvira, DRC. The third and final set of events, served as a tournament in Bukavu, DRC. Unfortunately, Rwandan schools were unable to participate in the final activity, despite negotiation and entreaties from program organizers. After the live events, the programs were produced in SFCG's radio studios in Kinshasa and distributed for broadcast to more than 75 radio stations in the region. The editing and distribution was possible thanks to USAID-DRC's support to SFCG's governance-themed radio programs in the DRC. As a result they are not counted as media outputs in this project.

Regional Theatre Trainings and FestivalSFCG has been using participatory theater as a tool for conflict transformation and dialogue in Burundi and DRC for several years. This technique is able to address very local and specific conflicts in communities, such as land conflicts, prejudice and stereotypes, rumor management, and misinformation around access to justice. In the whole region, SFCG-supported participatory theater performances have reached approximately 1.2 million people since 2005. Thanks to this project, SFCG was able to bring this innovative tool for social change to Rwanda, as well as foster regional exchanges and learning among artistic communicators. These shows are organized by SFCG's network of trained actors and theater troupes to encourage public discussion and problem-solving over sensitive issues within a targeted city block or rural village.

Under this project, SFCG used its training course, including videos, manuals and trainers to share the methodology with actors and actresses in Rwanda and to increase the pool of trainees in Burundi. Each training brings together participants from the region as appropriate to the language that they use culminating in a festival of performances put on by the participants, providing them the opportunity to immediately practice the skills that they have learned and displaying them to a larger group of people, who will benefit from the messages within.

During the third quarter of the project, participatory theater coordinators from the DRC and Burundi gave the first training in participatory theater methodology in Rwanda between the 1st and 12th of June, 2009. The training brought together 18 comedians from both Butare and Kigali at the Theatre de la Verdure, in Butare. SFCG developed a partnership with INIFEM, a young w omen’s artistic group Page 8 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011

Trainings focused on both theoretical and practical exercises. Here a group of actors discuss identity conflict at a training in Kigali and plan a test play to set up a discussion.


associated with the National University in Butare, and many of its members participated. SFCG’s coordinators also invited actors and other artists from the Centre des Jeunes in Kigali, in order to reach another demographic, including men, and those young actors came down to Butare for the training. Overall the training brought together 13 women and 5 men, and it is from this group that the first participatory theater troupe in Rwanda will be formed. They will form the seventh group in the Great Lakes Region, including five in the DRC, as well as one in Burundi. Troupes generally consist of less than 10 comedians, with only 6 participating on any given theatrical tour, and so a selection will be made among the best of the training participants, accounting for gender, ethnic, and age balance, in order to form the first troupe in Rwanda.

During the fourth quarter, participatory theater coordinators from the DRC and Burundi gave the second participatory theater training as part of this project, training a group of 27 comedians. The training was organized in the northern section of Bujumbura, and included comedians from both Burundi and Rwanda. In order to respond to the evolving political context, particularly as both countries looked forward to elections at that time, the training’s main theme was “Peaceful cohabitation among people of different political beliefs,” and targeted participants working in sensitive areas. The training itself was organized between July 6th and 10th, and was followed by practical exercises and public performances in the poor and potentially explosive slums of Bujumbura.

In the seventh quarter, SFCG held the third theater training in Rwanda. The training started on May 17 th

and finished on May 22nd. It brought together 8 actors and was facilitated by SFCG staff members from Burundi and Rwanda who had themselves participated in the initial trainings in 2009. The participants felt that the training was very important because they acquired new skills in conflict transformation and participatory theater, which was a new concept for all of them.

The series of training programs culminated in a week-long theater festival between January 25th and 29th

in Kigali, Rwanda. The objectives of the festival were to:

• Share experiences and build capacity of actors: Bring actors together to discuss their strengths and challenges working with the participatory theater techniques in their respective countries.

• Provide theater performances to promote dialogue and the ‘Common Ground Approach’ to conflicts in communities: Allowing populations to realize they can solve their own conflicts in a non‐adversarial way.

The festival brought together 48 actors from nine different troupes from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All of the actors who participated in the festival had been trained in SFCG’s Participatory Theater for Conflict Resolution methodology. During the week, performances were held across the country in ten locations. Five performances were outside of Kigali while the remaining five were in Kigali and its environs.

All performances were conducted in a mix of Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Swahili, depending on the actors’ capacity. This language blend introduced an interesting element to the event. At first SFCG was concerned that Rwandans would only be interested in Kinyarwanda, and would be discouraged by Swahili‐speaking actors. However, the audiences were delighted to hear how the actors could Page 9 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


communicate with each other by blending the languages, and the spectators were able to follow the story through the way the troupe summarized the story as it progressed. The theater festival format combined practical exercises and skill building within the actor groups as well as public performances. The 48 participants were divided into teams that combined different nationalities, language capacity, and experience with participatory theater methodology. The teams then worked together to develop new performances that fit the different communities that they visited.

Each evening, all of the participants would gather together again and discuss what they had learned that day, as well as the challenges that they faced. This reflection time also helped build bonds between the different participants, and foster relationships and regional understanding. At the end of the week, the festival culminated with a closing ceremony at the Stadium, which was attended by the Minister of Youth and the American Ambassador, as well as representatives of USAID and other international organizations. Approximately, 3,700 people attended the festival, either through the community performances or at the final ceremony at the Stadium. Roughly 1,202 were males, 1,460 females and 958 children of both genders. The theater performances addressed aspects of land conflict, which remains a staggering concern in the Great Lakes region.

Post‐performance interviews showed that the program brought about some clear changes in participants’ attitudes and stereotypes towards the prospect of mutual understanding in the region. Large numbers (40%) of Burundian and Congolese actors told interviewers that they had been afraid for their personal safety prior to the festival, and had doubted whether people from across the region could get along, but after the festival, they reported being pleasantly surprised and forming bonds with people that they did not expect. Participatory theater is intended to provoke attitudinal change among local residents and dignitaries alike, especially in relation to stereotypes and misconceptions about others in across central Africa. In SFCG’s innovative program, troupes of trained actors develop scenarios based on local conflicts for each performance, and then involve local citizens in the resolution of those scenarios. Each play is unique to the village in which it was written and performed. Some of the sensitive issues addressed in the plays include questions of inheritance, land ownership within families, and marriage rights. Actors first talk to ordinary citizens about conflicts in a village or neighborhood and create a small play dealing with the types of conflict people mention. They then perform what they have prepared in front of an audience. Page 10 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011

Despite political conflicts, the population of the Great Lakes often experience the same conflicts. In the photo above, actors portray a conflict over the right to inherit a piece of farmland before facilitating a community discussion on the topic.


The first play ends in violence and frustration. Afterward, the actors invite community members to discuss the conflict and to help them out to “act out” on stage the solutions to real‐life problems.

Common Ground Journalism TrainingDuring the project, three regional trainings in Common Ground journalism were planned, bringing together a group of 36 media professionals from Burundi, Rwanda and DRC. With co-funding from the Belgian Technical Cooperation, SFCG was able to exceed this goal. SFCG organized a total of 5 training sessions, one exchange among senior media leaders, and one training session for radio managers. In all, the training program reached 47 media professionals including11 women.

At the start of the project, in 2008, SFCG held a journalism dialogue for journalists from around the region, held in Bujumbura, Burundi. The exchange included journalists from Burundi, DRC, and Rwanda. The session, entitled « Enjeux de liberté d'expression dans la sous région » or The stakes of freedom of speech in the sub-region, focused on the role of responsible journalism in the Great Lakes. Co-funded with a grant from the European Commission, the discussion examined how responsible reporting can promote peaceful conflict resolution and reconciliation and provided the basis for the training strategy. The exchange provided valuable information and insight from participants, helping coordinators to prepare pertinent materials for the first Common Ground training scheduled for early 2009.

The curriculum of the Common Ground journalism training consists of five modules:• Three modules focusing on concepts, definition, and analysis of social conflicts in general in

order to build conflict-sensitivity skills among the participants.• One module on the positive and negative roles that journalists play, consciously or

unconsciously, in shaping public attitudes: reinforcing or breaking down stereotypes, in framing political issues and the perception of what a conflict is “about,” and in encouraging the inclusion (or exclusion) of alternative perspectives and marginalized communities

• Practical tips and strategies to include these elements within radio programs: giving equal airtime and allowing an open and constructive debate, describing events in moderate language, avoiding keywords that might be unconsciously inflammatory, and encouraging participants to discuss the interests, fears and reasoning that inform their political opinions.Page 11 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011

The practical exercises explored politically explosive topics with sensitivity, by reporting in mixed teams. Above, a Rwandan journalist (right) and Congolese (left) interview Rwandaphone Congolese refugees living in Burundi. Viewed with suspicion by their fellow Congolese, the fate of Rwandaphone Congolese refugees was among the hottest cross-border issues of 2009.


The first common ground training took place in March 2009 for 6 journalists in Bujumbura, Burundi. The 5 day session, combined training with practical application in joint program design and reporting on current issues facing the three countries. The training was focused on acquiring the fundamentals of common ground journalism, including theoretical sessions and practical exercises. Practical elements included inviting journalist to serve as Guest Hosts the daily Studio Ijambo/SFCG-Burundi production "Isanganiro ry'urwaruka” or “Youth Crossings,” one of Burundi's most popular talk shows discussing social and political issues with millions of listeners. After each practical exercise, all trainees participated in a critical listening session, where the group discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the broadcast. The participants also traveled up country out of the capital to conduct interviews and assist with the production of other broadcasts.

The second common ground training took place in June 2009 and was organized for 5 journalists, including two Congolese journalists, two Burundians and one Rwandan, also held in Bujumbura. In order to maximize the impact of the week-long Common Ground Training program as part of this project, SFCG decided to use co-funding from the Belgian Government to support a more intensified program of practical exercises for the journalists. This allowed the Common Ground training to be combined with a studio internship for journalists to produce magazine-style programs on conflict issues, and conduct joint reporting regional conflicts (for example, border disputes between Rwanda and Burundi, or repatriation issues). This supervised practice reinforces the practical and direct impact of the training and helps ensure that Common Ground-trained journalists are able to make a more concrete change in the treatment of conflict issues on their home radio stations.

As a result of the reinforcement of practical aspects of the training, SFCG adopted a strategy of training fewer journalists per session, while conducting more sessions. This allows for more individual attention from the trainer to each of the participating journalists. Thus the total number of journalists participating in each training is 5 or 6, rather than the proposed 12, and the number of trainings will increase in order to meet the planned output target.

A third common ground training took place in August 2009 and the 6 participating journalists also participated in a two month, magazine-production internship. In the practical exercise component, they developed several a series programs on regional issues, including stories on foreigners (mostly Congolese) who had been expelled for living illegally in Burundi. The journalists investigatied and following up individual deportation cases with the different embassies, the ministry of the interior, the border police and local administrators in order to better explain the situation to listeners. The series was an example of in-depth reporting, aimed at developing journalists analytical instincts to “pursue” a story. In response to the developing situation with the Banyamulenge refugees in Mwaro these journalists began to treat the subject, using the unique value added of reporting in mixed Rwandan-Burundian-Congolese teams. This was studied in depth during the subsequent training session.

The fourth Common Ground Journalism Training had seven journalists participating in the training program, including three Congolese, two Rwandans, and two Burundians. During this training cycle, practical exercises targeted the politically charged question of the future of Congolese refugees living in Page 12 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


Burundi. In 2009, groups of Congolese refugees had become increasingly hostile towards UNHCR and Burundian authorities, intending to return to the DRC, primarily South Kivu, even though no tripartite agreement between Burundi and DRC was signed (it was later signed), and the very unstable conditions in their return zones. Fearing large-scale and uncontrolled refugee returns would further destabilize the return areas, both governments and UNHCR resisted these returns until proper mechanisms could be established. This represented a practical opportunity for journalist trainees to both hone their skills, as well as to produce reports sharing objective information and exploring the differing perspectives on the situation in a sensitive manner.

To complement the Common Ground training for journalism, SFCG organized a special training for 12 regional radio station managers. This training aimed at improving the sustainability of independent media in the region, recognizing that trainings for journalists must be complemented by the institutional reinforcement of the stations where they work. Particularly in light of the region's upcoming elections, poorly-managed, financially unstable media outlets represent likely targets for manipulation. Technical skills of individual journalists could be outweighed by unscrupulous would-be politicians looking to purchase influence. Rumors and misinformation can easily overwhelm the capacity of a poorly managed station unable to regularly produce news broadcasts, guarantee the support for the journalists and have well-established mechanisms of editorial control. This training program directly complemented the Common Ground training methodology aimed at journalists, by aiming to create a sustainable working environment for journalists – reinforcing the capacity of independent media as institutions rather than unrealistically focusing on journalists as independent practitioners.

This training also allowed senior media personalities – particularly those from Western DRC to meet and work with journalists from Rwanda, breaking down communications barriers and stereotypes existing particularly given the large distance and history of negative stereotypes between the western DRC and Rwanda. The first week of training focused on program management, while the second week focused on administrative and financial management of a radio station. In all, fourteen station managers were selected to participate in the training activities, nearly all of whom supervised the journalists participating in the Common Ground journalism training program supported under this project, with the goal of supporting sustainable change within radios.

SFCG conducted a fifth Common Ground Training for journalists in April 2010, from April 27th to April 30th. In total, 11 journalists participated: 3 SFCG journalist-producers from Rwanda were trained along with 8 other journalists. Participants came from Radio Publique Africaine and the Radio-Television Nationale du Burundi in Burundi, Radio Vision Shala, Radio-Television National Congolais, and Radio Maendeleo in the DRC and Radio Isango STAR, Radio 10, and Radio Maria Rwanda from Rwanda.

During the training, participants discussed the characteristics of a good journalist, such as: curiosity, sensitivity, being attuned to the environment, and being an active observer. Participants also discussed the challenges of balancing 1) the orders of authorities, 2) obligations to radio sponsors and their duty to the public. They explored how journalists can negotiate these contending influences and maintain their credibility and professionalism, with a particular focus on the upcoming election period.



Radio Series on Peace TalksOn August 27th, after several weeks of publicity, SFCG launched a radio series addressing the lack of information available to the population – including educated, politically-interested “elites” -- in the region about the peace process and to inform Congolese refugees and residents of the both Congo and Rwanda about new developments, under the name “Convergences”. The program features guest interviews, and man and woman-on-the street interviews across the DRC and Rwanda. Although the program initially experienced some “growing pains,” it succeeded in broaching sensitive issues and reaching a large and diverse audience.

Convergences focused on diplomatic and political issues between the DRC and Rwanda. In all, SFCG produced a total of 12 episodes, each featuring topics “torn from the headlines,” aimed at exploring alternate views and tackling misconceptions. The program was produced in partnership between the largest independent radio stations in each country: Radio-Television Groupe de l'Avenir (RTG@) in the DRC, and Contact FM in Rwanda. This approach had two major advantages. First, by working with independent broadcasters, the program was locally-authentic, but also outside of government control, enabling more frank discussion of sensitive political issues.

Secondly, by working with major national – and not regional – broadcasters, the program reached strategic audiences far away from the border region. Because populations living along the border are in more frequent contact with their neighbors, this show aimed at reaching a national audience, including people in other major cities, like Kinshasa, Kigali, Lubumbashi, Kisangani, or Butare where Congo-Rwanda relations are sensitive issues, but where the public has less access to recent firsthand perspectives on developments in the Kivu provinces. Audience surveys show that, consequently, the show had a popular following at the national level, and not only in the region.

According to an audience survey of 400 randomly selected individuals in seven urban areas around the DRC, in six of seven urban areas (Lubumbashi, Kindu, Bukavu, Bandundu, Kolwezi, Likasi), the program reached at least 5% of the population surveyed, reaching as high as 13% in Lubumbashi, the DRC's second-largest city. The only city where it was virtually unknown was Kikwit, where it was not broadcast. With an urban population of more than 30 million, this program likely reached many hundreds of thousands of listeners.

The program was initially produced live, using relay technology between the two stations. Simultaneous broadcasts led to a number of technical difficulties in the linkup between the RGT@ studio Kinshasa and and the Contact FM studio in Kigali, more than a thousand miles away. Eventually, the program switched to a pre-recorded format. Given the ground-breaking format, politically-sensitive subject matter, and the complexity of the production process the program encountered a number of challenge. On several occasions, concerns from station leadership about the subject matter led to negotiations, editing and changes in the broadcast schedule. Nonetheless, 11 of the 12 planned episodes of the series were produced and aired multiple times on each station.

The final episode, on refugee returns, was dropped from the series, when one guest refused to discuss the subject on air, backing out at the last minute. Ultimately, this episode was aired as Episode 175 of Generation Grands Lacs, produced and broadcast live around the region through that program. Page 14 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


Nr Date Theme1. August 27th 2009 From the “Amani Program” to the “Umoja Wetu Operation.” From “Umoja

Wetu” to “Kimia II”2. September 10th 2009 The trial of General Laurent Nkunda3. September 16th 2009 Reintegration of Rwandan Civilians Repatriated from the DRC4. September 24th 2009 What fate for FDLR militants who go back to Rwanda? 5. Octobre 22nd 2009 The role of the CPI in the management of the FDLR6. November 6th 2009 The role of the media in changing the dynamics of cooperation between

Rwanda and DRC7. November 19th 2009 Land conflict and the return of the Congolese refugees living in Rwanda. 8. November 26th 2009 Kimia II and beyond...9. December 10th 2009 Armed groups and the exploitation of the mines10. December 17th 2009 Arms trafficking in the Great Lakes Region11. February 4th 2010 Amnesty deals and solutions to the problem of armed groups12. February 20th 2010 The return of the Congolese refugees living in Rwanda and Burundi: Issues and

Challenges (-aired as part of the GGL program)

4. ResultsThis project succeeded in delivering all, or nearly all, of the anticipated results. The project met or exceeded eight of its nine output targets, only falling short in media productions, due to a change in the program's format that resulted in fewer, but higher-quality, radio programs. Of the project's five outcome indicators, SFCG considers that results on four of the indicators are “very satisfactory” and on the fifth are satisfactory.

Project Outputs

Output Target Result AchievementObjective 1: Stimulate the exchange of information around regional conflict and reconciliation issues IUYF trainings on conflict resolution and governance;

3 IUYF trainings on conflict resolution and governance

1 Organizational-capacity building training for the IUYF10 trainings on regional conflict

Exceeded

IUYF participants trained;

100 IUYF participants trained in conflict mitigation /resolution skills w/ USG assistance

500 youth leaders trained 626 students participating in outreach activities (DJD)

Exceeded

Regional theater trainings;

3 regional theater trainings; 3 regional theater trainings Met

Actors from the region trained;

72 actors from the region trained;

103 actors from the region trained

Met

Regional theater festival;

1 regional theater festival; 1 regional theater festival Met

Members of the public participating in regional

3000 participants and audience members

3,700 participants and audience members

Exceeded



theater festival

Objective 2: Improve the skills of media practitioners to address conflict responsibly and highlight regional interests Common Ground journalism trainings;

3 Common Ground journalism trainings;

7 Common Ground Journalism Trainings

Exceeded

Journalists trained; 36 journalists trained; 47 Journalists trained, including 11 women

Exceeded

Radio programs produced on the Goma Conference peace talks.

20 Radio programs produced on the Goma Conference peace talks.

12 Programs produced Not met (60%)*

As shown in the summary table all targets of the project where met or exceeded, except from the 20 radio programs on the Goma Conference Peace Talks. Only 12 programs where produced. This was due to the sensitivity of the issues addressed in the program and the decision to change the format from a live broadcast to a per-produced magazine, with extensive content gathering in the field, which implied more financial means, and also more time.

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Greater understanding of regional conflict factors and potential solutions to these problems.Indicator: % of project participants (journalists, actors, and university youth) displaying increased knowledge on regional conflict issues.

• Measurement. This indicator, of the political changes in attitudes among project participants was assessed separately for each category within the framework of each specific activity evaluation. The methodologies are described below for each category.

• Definition. This is defined as : ◦ (1) the % of journalist participants agreeing that “the conflict-sensitivity component of the

training has improved my professional work”◦ (2) the % of actors participating in the regional festival who, in semi-structured interviews,

spontaneously cited an impact of the regional nature of the festival in their professional life.◦ (3) the % of youth training participants who showed increased knowledge with regards to

the specific regional issue addressed in the training.• Result. Approximately 70% of participants feel this way. In our estimation this is a satisfactory

outcome.◦ (1) 71.5% of journalists affirmed that the elements of the training related to regional conflict

had affected their professional lives◦ (2) 69% of actors volunteered that the regional theater festival would affect their treatment

of conflict in their professional lives◦ (3) In the training that disaggregated test scores by individual youth, 94% of students

showed an increased understanding of regional conflict issues.



Outcome 2: Increased capacity of youth University Forum members to apply conflict transformation and dialogue techniques to address their concerns and advocate for their needs.Indicator: % of students whose knowledge on governance and youth advocacy skills has improved through the Forum activities

• Measurement. This indicator was measured through pre- and post-training tests, focused on the change in knowledge of concepts and strategies. This represented a slight change from the initial indicator, which focused on increasing awareness of dialogue and advocacy techniques. This was shift was necessitated by the fact that trainings focused on equipping participants with knowledge necessary to undertake these actions responsibly. Additionally, this indicator was measured in terms of the magnitude of the knowledge change, rather than the percentage of individuals seeing an increase. This was calculated based upon pre- and post-tests administered to 76 youth training participants. Tests consisted of six short-answer questions, scored as to whether they reflected a satisfactory understanding of the subject matter.

• Definition. The difference between the percentage of correct answers in the pre-test and in the post-tests.

• Result. On pre-tests, participants answered 27% of questions successfully. On final-tests, participants correctly answered 54% of the questions. This translates to a 27% increase in the brute test scores, doubling the number of questions answered correctly. SFCG considers this increase satisfactory, relative to participants initial knowledge levels, although it is indicative of the remaining gaps needed in building the capacity of youth leaders to understand these issues.

Outcome 3: Increased capacity of theater troupes to use conflict transformation and participatory theater techniques in their creative work.Indicator: % of theater participants showing increased knowledge and skills at the end of the workshops

• Measurement. To assess this indicator, pre- and post-training tests were administered before and after each full theater workshops.1 70% (37 of 52) participants completed BOTH tests. This relatively low completion rate is largely due to an incident in which a bus of theater trainees arrived late from Butare, several isolated cases of early departures/arrivals, and the fact some participants could not write well enough to complete the test. Trainees were selected for their acting skills, understanding of conflict, issues and their ability to relate to a rural, conflict-affected audience; literacy was not a prerequisite.

• Definition. The indicator is defined as the percentage of trainees showing some improvement between the pre- and post-tests. SFCG hoped that at least 90% of training participants would show improvement between pre- and post-test. The increase in the percentage of correct answers was retained to assess the magnitude of the improvements shown by participants.

1. The same tests were administered to 26 festival training participants, though were largely inconclusive since festival participants had already participated in earlier trainings, and thus scored near-perfectly on both pre- and post-tests. In those tests, 16 participants saw skills increase, 2 saw no change, and 8 saw skills decrease. However, the average magnitude was less than 15% in all cases, the effect of typical variations. For this reason, semi-structured interviews were considered a more strategic outlet to assess participant impact.Page 17 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


• Results. Overall, 100% of training workshop showed some increase in knowledge and skills between the pre and post test. On average, participants correctly answered 38.5% more questions (as a percentage of the total number of questions) on the final test, as on the initial one. As shown on the chart at right, 13 participants saw increases of 40% or more, and 12 saw increases in the 30-39% range, and these increases could have been even higher since several participants received perfect, or near-perfect scores. In all, SFCG considers that its targets have been exceeded in terms of the number percentage of trainees making gains, and very satisfactory in terms of the magnitude of the gains made by the participants.

Outcome 4: More information is available around the region on the Goma Conference peace talks, addressing the last remaining violent conflict in the region.

Indicator: % of people surveyed who are aware of the Goma Conference peace talks and can answer questions on key points

• Measurement. To assess this indicator, SFCG evaluator Pacifique Ngombwa undertook a series of focus groups and listener surveys in the cities of Goma and Gisenyi in the DRC and Rwanda, respectively. The surveys consisted of a household randomized sample of 400 members of the francophone community in each city. The survey focused only on the francophone community in order to reflect the demographic (key actors) targeted by the program The focus groups consisted of critical listening and discussion sessions with groups of youth and adults on both sides of the border.

• Definition. Although the initial question was asked in the survey of residents of each city, SFCG evaluated this indicator specifically through focus groups in order to direct the conversation in order to attribute the change to knowledge levels to the programs. Using the focus-group format, SFCG tested the indicator in two ways:◦ A set of three factual questions about the legal arguments around the extradition of Laurent

Nkunda, administered before and after listening sessions with separate groups of youth and adults in both cities.

◦ A set of three open-ended questions asking focus groups what new information was contained in a program on economic relations between the two projects.

• Result. The results of this indicator are satisfying, as detailed below. Pre- and post-testing as well as open-ended discussions showed that the show increased understanding among Rwandans on every measure. In the DRC, it increased understanding on all measures, except one.◦ In both focus groups in Rwanda, listening to the program increased understanding of the

arguments over the Nkunda extradition on all three measures. In Congolese focus groups, exposure to the program increased their understanding of why Nkunda had not been transferred to the CPI, and the fact that the Congolese government had not yet requested extradition. However, it did not help Congolese listeners distinguish between Rwanda's “Abolition” of the death penalty, and Congo's “Moratorium” on the death penalty.Page 18 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


◦ During open-ended discussions, in all four focus groups, participants (1) affirmed the show increased their knowledge (2) articulated specific examples and facts retained from the program and (3) were able to discuss diplomatic relations between the countries integrating these facts.

Outcome 5: Improved capacity by participating journalists in Common Ground production approaches.Indicator: % of participating journalists applying skills learned in their work after six months as verified by SFCG monitoring their programs.

• Measurement. To assess this indicator, SFCG evaluator Godefroide Bigirimana, accompanied by a journalist, conducted semi-structured interviews with 8 of the station leaders and 19 journalists who participated in the training and practical exercises in this project, months after the training, visiting them at their stations. The value of this indicator was calculated based upon a weighted “General Index for Training and Internship Impact Calculations” consisting of 18 elements, broken down into: (1) participant self-identified retrospective satisfaction; (2) effectiveness [post-test improvement] (3) Knowledge transfer and application of the skills; (4) improved regional knowledge.

• Definition. The evaluation defined a score between 50% - 75% on this index as “medium impact” and 75% and above as “High Impact”.

• Result. The final index for the training activity was scored at 87.6% within the “high impact” range, a very satisfactory result. The full methodology, breakdown and additional findings are in the evaluation report, which is attached and will be posted to the SFCG website.

5. Project Evaluations and Effects

Common Ground TrainingsA global evaluation of the regional journalism training programs took place following recognized training-evaluation models, and based upon on-site visits to participating journalists, within their stations. The evaluation was organized months after the trainings, in order to encourage participants to reflect on the the durability of the training results, thus complementing the pre- and post-tests (held right after the trainings). The evaluation found that the trainings and practical exercises had significant impact, concluding that “the program targeting the causes of regional conflicts responds to a real problem. , and The impact of the trainings is equally visible on the ground, leading me to conclude that SFCG remains a leader in the region in supporting media development and free expression. The beneficiaries interviewed at their workplaces affirmed that their participation in the program was an exceptional learning experience.”

The evaluation recorded ten examples of the journalist training program's material being put into action within the stations. This included:

• Three journalists who established new radio programs at their stations. Said one “I know this is dangerous in my country, but I felt that we must talk about political issues openly,” and a fourth who had begun planning.Page 19 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


• One journalist who convinced his stations to establish critical listening sessions to ensure their programs were unbiased;

• Two managers who began using participatory planning among journalists to set the station's agenda;

• Three journalists who deployed new production strategies in their regular programs and newscasts, although one encountered some difficulties.

Additionally, Radio management participants reported undertaking concrete steps to make their stations more viably independent, for example:

• One Congolese manager who attended the training reported that he had learned how to write a funding proposal in the training. When he returned, he wrote a proposal for funding for his own radio, and sent it to a donor who had responded favorably. “Before the training, I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a 'call for proposals' or that radios could receive grants. I though we were condemned to live and die only by our meager advertising sales.”

• A Rwandan manager announced that he had begun to systematically monitor his radio's activities. He did not know that other radios already had such systems.

Key recommendations for future activities included:

• An ongoing coaching and accompaniment of the stations. During the evaluation of the trainings several participants expressed the need for a follow up one they are back in the field. Once they start producing radio shows with a Common Ground approach in their own radio stations, they are often confronted to practical questions, for which they don’t have answers.

• Adapt future curriculum to the different levels of training by participating journalists, some of whom were new journalists with university-level education, while others had little formal education but long professional experience. Some stations were major commercial radio stations, others were small community radios. While this had the advantage of creating a diverse and dynamic atmosphere, it did pose some challenges for the curriculum.

The full report is attached here as Annex I.

Theater Trainings and Regional Theater festivalApart from Pre and post tests were organized for the theater trainings. Almost all participants achieved a better score in the post tests, as described above. Additionally, the festival was monitored through follow-up interviews with community members who had attended the activity, semi-structured interviews with performers, and pre- and post-tests at the festival itself.

• During a survey two weeks after the Regional Theater Festival took place, spectators of the theater festival confirmed that they understood the content of the plays and that they appreciated the topics that were chosen because they reflect really well the realities they’ve been living in their communities. The most sensitive themes of the performances, resonating with audience members, were questions linked to inheritance and land rights among members Page 20 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


of different wings of a single family. Because Rwanda is in the process of implementing a new land code, intra-family land disputes are particularly sensitive and a source of particular anxiety.

• Semi-structured interviews showed that the theater festival changed some of the attitudes of the participants, while revealing the deep sense of anxiety that remains among different groups in the region. When asked what had changed:◦ 25% of participants, nearly all of whom were Burundians and Congolese feared they would

be in physical danger simply by visiting Rwanda. This attitude was felt by fully 40% of the non-Rwandan participants, and were surprised that it went smoothly;

◦ 31% of participants, again exclusively non-rwandans, volunteered that they had originally considered Rwandans to be “Closed,” “Arrogant” or a similar negative stereotype, and reported that they learned otherwise;

◦ The majority of participants, from all of the countries doubted whether people from all three countries would truly be able to work together in a mixed team to organize the activities;

◦ More than 30% of participants, particularly Burundians and Rwandans doubted whether they would be able to communicate across linguistic barriers, particularly alluding to the Congolese preference for Swahili versus the related Kirundi and Kinyarwanda. Congolese comedians capable of performing in Kinyarwanda was among the most surprising sights for audience members and participants alike.

An “update” produced to highlight the activity is attached as Annex III.

Radio Program: ConvergencesThe impact of the Convergence radio program was monitored via SFCG's listener feedback database. Following each program broadcast, listeners are encouraged to give their feedback via a hotline to SFCG's studio. Each month, a monitoring specialist returns approximately 200 of these calls, selected at random, and record's both the listener's opinion of the program, topic suggestions, listenership habits, and demographic information. While the 12-part Convergences series only comprised a small number of the thousands of calls the studio received each month, several did receive call-backs. The topic eliciting the most feedback was the episode focused on a gun buy-back program in North Kivu by the NGO PAREC. Callers were particularly interested by the debate over whether it is appropriate for the Congolese government to finance the NGO's effort.

The program was evaluated in two ways: first, a qualitative evaluation included focus group discussions and critical listening sessions with youth and adults in Gisenyi and Page 21 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011

As shown in the chart above, the program's listenership cascaded, reaching new listeners every month, up until the program ended in February, 2010.

oct-09nov-09

déc-09janv-10

févr-10

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rw anda

Listeners in the Sample

Rw anda Congo


Goma. This component of the evaluation aimed to test the degree to which knowledge was effectively transferred through the program, audience attitudes on the program's relevance and value-added, and general attitudes towards cross-border relations. Second, a large-scale survey of 800 randomly-selected individuals, 400 in each country, was conducted in these same cities. The survey mirrored the show's demographics, surveying francophone members, of both cities' educated class.

Key findings of the program's evaluations include:

• The program had a large market share. Fully 21.5% of the Congolese target population knew of the show, as did 9.5% of Rwandans The listenership in Rwanda was driven down somewhat because the partner station's signal could not reach all of the target zone. We expect listenership to be even higher elsewhere in Rwanda. This strong listenership rate – particularly for a special series and not a full program – indicates the program's pertinence and popular interest.

• All of those who had heard the program (100%) could successfully identify topics discussed on the show, demonstrating that the program was memorable, and that the strong survey response was not in error (for example, respondants confusing the program's title with a different radio show).

• Listener interest was piqued by promotions or by hearing their friends talk about the program . Most listeners discovered the program intentionally, after hearing announcements of the new show on the radio. 47% of Congolese and 60% of Rwandan listeners discovered the show in this manner. Importantly, 19% of Congolese and 10% of Rwandans decided to listen to the show after hearing their friends and colleagues discussing it.

• Citizens in both countries believe relations have improved politically (69% in DRC, 57% in Rwanda), and agree that conflicts are more political than social (77% in DRC, 57% in Rwanda).

• Stereotypes in the region remain intense, despite the political opening. as shown by the chart below. In both countries the first term to describe the other is « Murderers », a reference to the recent violence in the area. Negative opinions are clearly more solidified on the Congolese side.

Stereotypes: What is the first word that comes to your head when I say...

“Rwandans” (asked to Congolese) “Congolese” (asked to Rwandans)

1. 'Murderers' (56%) 1. 'Murderers' (29%)

2. 'Neighbors' (14%) 2. 'Neighbors' (13%)

3. 'American Pawns' (5%) 3. 'Friends' (12%)

4. 'Politicians' (3%) 4. 'Disorganized Country' (9%)

5. 'Musicians' (2%) 5. 'Musicians' (8%)

6. 'Friends' (2%) 6. 'American Pawns' (6%)

7. 'Land of Corruption' (2%) 7. 'Businessmen' (4%)

8. 'Hypocrites' (1%) 8. 'Organized Country' (4%)

9. 'Businessmen' (1%) 9. 'Hypocrites' (3%)

10 'Disorganized Country' (1%) 10. 'Refugees' (2%)Page 22 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


• In the DRC, listeners felt that the most important messages or information that they took away from the show was « Tolerance among countries in the region », « the Return of the FDLR », « Security in the Region » and « Natural resource Sharing ». In Rwanda, listeners thought the most important concepts from the program were « Security in the Great Lakes Region », « Tolerance among countries » and « Unity ».

• Both groups of listeners affirmed that the show is unlike any existing program in their country, praising the program's scope and ambition. Congolese participants felt the closest program was Radio Okapi's popular « Dialogue entre Congolais », but praised Convergences for blending news and discussion, and also for being more ambitious than « Dialogue entre Congolais » in the choice of subject matter. Rwandan participants thought of other Public Affairs programs on local radios in Rwanda, but felt Convergences was unique by going beyond official government perspectives on political issues.

• In focus groups, participants expressed their appreciation for the show, both technically, and in terms of content. They also made recommendations, some of which were contradictory:◦ Rwandan focus groups felt strongly that there should have been greater inclusion and

testimony from victims of war. Congolese focus groups would have liked the journalists to confront controversial figures, such as warlords. Still both praised the format integrating interviews with leaders and ordinary people.

◦ Both groups would have preferred to see the program continue and expand as well as include versions in Kinyarwanda and Swahili.

The quantitative evaluation is attached here as Annex III, and the Qualitative evaluation is Annex IV.

6. Challenges and Lessons Learned

ChallengesThe project's complex and sensitive nature led to a number of challenges, as alluded to above, as well as several logistical and administrative difficulties. Notably, SFCG revised downward the number episodes planned in the of series, from 20 to 12. This revision was due to the need to include greater costs for field reporting. Rather than relying only on audiences in major cities, SFCG and radio partner journalists worked in the field to collect interviews, vox pops and do reporting from areas directly affected by the conflict. This more engaging – but more expensive – format led to the strategic decision to produce fewer programs (but to air them more frequently, thus still covering the same time period). Political concerns from station management also forced SFCG to sometimes undertake careful and sensitive editing and negotiations, although this did not disrupt the overall broadcast.

Reticence from Rwandan education officials made it impossible to fully include Rwandan youth in the Duel des Jeunes Démocrates. The multiplicity of languages posed a consistent challenge as various project participants felt mot comfortable in Kinyarwanda, Kirundi and Swahili as well as both English and French. While this was successfully managed in the theater training activities, it did pose greater challenges during the practical training component of the Common Ground Journalism training, where journalists sometimes had difficulty in conducting interviews with ordinary citizens.Page 23 Search for Common Ground in the Great LakesFinal Report to USAID, January 2011


Recommendations and Next StepsEvaluation findings. The Common Ground Trainings for journalists had a significant impact among the participants and within radio stations. The training evaluation also recommends that the trainings should be followed up by coaching sessions from SFCG trainers to follow up the trainees on the long term to see if they can implement what they have learned during the training and to be able to answer questions as they come along when the participants are putting what they have learned in practice.

Participative theater and the Regional Theater festival were a great success as well for the actors that were trained and that performed as for the participants who confirm that actually “seeing” a conflict and its possible solutions helps them to better understand the conflicts and to realize what happens in their communities. Participative theater is a excellent tool for future projects on the resolution of conflicts and can be easily adapt to the changing circumstances.

The Convergence program clearly attracted a strong following by the end of its run, and had an impact on members of the target groups as intended. The conclusion of the run, even as the program's audience increased and production cycle became more regular, due to the end of funding for the program. Still, the impact of the program was palpable, and has not been continued by any other radio programs in the region.

Program management. As one of SFCG's first regional programs in the Great Lakes, the program experienced some start-up difficulties, in harmonizing calendars and implementation plans, particularly as the project involved a significant amount of co-funding. This was largely overcome by exchange missions between the country offices, planning sessions, and clarification of responsibilities.

SFCG will build on the success of this program to implement program focused on managing conflicts at cross-border trading posts in the region, refugee related conflict, and share information about mining reforms in the DRC and Rwanda.

SFCG extends its sincere appreciation to USAID for the work that it continues to extend to us in our work to transform conflict world wide.


Documents

Supporting Key Actors to Mitigate Conflicts in the Great · PDF fileSupporting Key Actors to Mitigate Conflicts in the Great Lakes M/OAA/DCHA/DOFDA-08-319 SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND