Transformational Media

This document provides guidance on the uses of video in a participatory-action-research process for peacebuilding. It summarizes the Interpeace experience on the use of video footage and video documentaries in peacebuilding. ...

The Children’s Voices, a UNICEF co-funded project, was established at the first national-level DDR working group, the Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG) Working Group. The project aimed to provide a platform for children and youth’s voices in the transition to peace so as to prevent the further manipulation of youth to violence....

Search for Common Ground (SFCG), has been working in Nepal since February 2006, with support from the European Commission, UNICEF, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank. Using media and community-based activities, SFCG aims to foster the participation of key sectors of the population in Nepal in the peacebuilding process, with a particular focus on youth. In this context, SFCG conducted two-year programmatic evaluation to assess the outcomes, successes and shortcomings of their youth in peace building and community decision making project activities. ...

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in Guinea recently completed an 18-month project entitled Youth and Non-Violence in Guinea, whose overall goal was to promote the use of non-violent methods for resolving conflicts among youth in the cities of Kindia, Mamou and Kankan....

This guide introduces some of the best recent literature on the role of communication in governance. It highlights the major critical debates surrounding the relationship between communication, government accountability and responsiveness, and state-society relations in developing countries....

Since 2007 Search for Common Ground (SFCG) has worked with the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC). The project: “Tomorrow is a New Day” is funded by the Dutch Government and has three primary objectives: Raising awareness: Fostering an increased awareness of human rights, conflict transformation principles, and the Military Code among the target brigades. Fighting Impunity: Contributing to the fight against impunity by engaging the FARDC in denouncing violations, monitoring cases before military courts, and implementing an effective media outreach strategy. Collaboration and Solidarity: Improving military-civilian relations by garnering mutual respect and an understanding of human rights, via joint cultural, sporting, dialogue, collaborative action, and income generating activities.  In order to achieve these objectives, the project draws upon high-visibility ‘solidarity activities,’ as well as sensitization sessions for FARDC troops, participatory theatre performances, mobile cinema screenings, and large-scale radio and television multi-media outreach. ...

“Kilna Bil Hayy” is a children’s program broadcasted on LBC during the summer of 2009, which has the a long term goal of building the psychological foundation for a future of peaceful co-existence and prosperity in Lebanon.  To assess the progress and impacts of this program on viewers, both qualitative and quantitative evaluations were carried out. An external quantitative survey was conducted to understand the level of short-term effect the program had on respondents and if it had changed their views towards other people from different sects and ethnicities....

It was decided by Search for Common Ground in April 2004 to evaluate “Nashe Maalo”, one of its larger projects in Macedonia. Nashe Maalo (“our neighbourhood”, referred to generally as NM) is a television series aimed at promoting inter-cultural understanding among children with a view to conflict transformation....

Community radio stations face several obstacles that threaten both their operations and engagement in democratic development.  However, there are models of successful community radios in Liberia, and upon closer inspection there is evidence of long-term planning, accountability mechanisms and innovative management strategies.  There are programs aimed at attracting community revenue and local advertisers, station managers who have identified alternative resources for capacity building, and national networks created for advocacy.  This case study, carried out by Search for Common Ground in February 2009, explores exactly how these community radios are sustaining themselves, thereby revealing how the  appropriate interventions aimed at increasing community radio’s stability can be identified and their growth incorporated into the development agenda....

From April 2008 until February 2009, Search for Common Ground Indonesia implemented a pilot project entitled Aceh Youth Radio for Peacebuilding. With support from DFID and the World Bank, the project had the overarching goal of transforming the way Aceh youth handle conflicts from adversarial approaches towards cooperative solutions....

Search for Common Ground’s refugee programming in the DRC underwent two evaluations in 2008: an internal evaluation with support from the United States Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in August and September 2008; and an external evaluation by UNHCR in September and October 2008. The objective of these evaluations was to assess the effectiveness of SFCG’s programming in fostering peaceful repatriation, including whether it is culturally appropriate for the region and effective in shifting behavioural norms in the short-term. Primarily, the studies attempted to evaluate the success of radio programming and theatrical performances in their capacity to: Provide information to refugees, returnees and residents about the repatriation process to dispel rumours and enable informed decisions to be made Foster dialogue and collaborative approaches to conflict between returnees and residents in the zones of return. It should be noted that data is subject to the historical moment and specific context of survey sites....

The purpose of this Action Research is to gather information on the knowledge, attitude and practice of Ivorians on democratic and electoral processes, civic education, good governance, conflict management and prevention. The key findings of this research will inform the next steps in the design and implementation of SFCG and its partners’ sensitisation and dialogue initiatives....

As a response to the effects of the post-election violence in Kenya in December 2007, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) and Media Focus on Africa (MFA) developed and produced a TV and radio drama, The Team – an episodic series which asks a central question: can Kenyans find ways to put the past behind them in order to have a better future? The series presents a microcosm of Kenyan society in which members of a fictional football team, who come from different ethnic groups and social classes, are challenged to overcome their fears and biases so that they can see one another as individuals not as members of “the other.” The central metaphor for the players – and for Kenya – is: If they do not cooperate, they will not score goals, and they will lose....

In 2007, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), with financial support from the United States Department of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), launched the twelve-month project, Mass Information In Support of Congolese and Burundian Refugees....

The DRC has frequently been described as one of the most dangerous countries for women. Sexual and gender based violence are rampant throughout society. “Vrai Djo,” or “Real Man,” is a project using mass media funded by the British Government aimed raising awareness of the population of western DRC of the need to change behaviour towards women, and to shape male attitudes so that they are more respectful and positive....

Search For Common Ground (SFCG) Nepal, with financial support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), implemented the 2010-2011 “Capacity Building in Youth and Peacebuilding” project to support and enhance existing reintegration programmes for young Nepalese ex-combatants, including Verified Minors and Late Recruits (VMLR) and Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG)....