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| My Desire For African Societies, Wandal Hall |
1/3/2008 |
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Last month, Wandall Hall was in Netherlands for some meetings relating to her project in Africa. The Voice met with her to find out the progress she had made with her works. Find below the brief interview we had with her.
TV: How was your trip to Holland? would you say you achieved the purpose of coming?
Wandal: My trip to the Netherlands was part of a larger initiative to try to reach out to media, NGOs and academia in Europe and the US, to encourage more interest and activity by these groups in the DRC, and in the other regions where the ICC is conducting its investigations. The ICC is working in regions of on-going conflict, where society has been completely torn apart by violence and where traditional structures and culture of rule of law have been serverely weakened or destroyed. The presence and activity of international civil society can do a lot to help these communities rebuild themselves.
TV: How would you describe the response to your project from the following (a) Africans (b) Governments in Africa (c) the western world.
Wandal: My project would not be possible without the partnership of colleagues where I work. I began in the northeastern Ituri District of DRC because this is the site of the first investigations by the ICC. My colleagues in Ituri are very dedicated and they care greatly about helping their community find peaceful ways to rebuild, and understanding what justice recourse is available to them is part of this. We work together to develop programming that encourages citizen participation and citizen interest in the justice process - at the local, national and international level.
We have had good luck in that the national authorities have participated on our programming, they respond to the questions posed by citizens. The more the project continues, I think the more that authorities understand that they are appreciated by the public when they respond directly to people’s concerns, and this encourages them to keep on participating in the programs. We are also very fortunate to have the participation of the international authorities, since there is an important international presence in this region, both by the UN with MONUC and also with the investigations by the ICC. Citizens appreciate very much that their questions are being answered by these authorities. The support and interest of the western world is crucial! This is why I am reaching out to western media, NGOs and academia. I think there would be more coverage, more projects and more research in these areas if the international community understood that it is possible to work in these regions, even with ongoing conflict and security concerns, it is possible.
TV: What is the moving spirit behind your dream?
Wandal: My career has built around the concept that people have the right to create their own society; where individual voice is respected and the common good is decided through civic participation. Media is a very powerful force, and it’s been used throughout this last century for both destructive and positive purposes...I am just trying to encourage people to use media, and to communicate, in a way that facilitates the rebuilding of society as they see fit. I work in regions of transition because these are places where there is tremendous opportunity for people to foster change, and it’s exciting to see people regain enthusiasm and do just that.
TV: Can you share with our readers the scope of your radio programme?
Wandal: Interactive Radio for Justice (www.irfj.org) is a project designed to foster a dialog between the people where the ICC is investigating and the justice authorities who are responsible for bringing justice to these people...at the local, national and international level. The concept behind the project is that rule of law is only possible when the citizens understand what their rights and obligations are under that law, and when they appreciate and participate in the justice process. The 4 series of radio programming that is produced in the IRfJ project all try to create an interactive dialog on justice issues which are important to the community where the programms are broadcast -- the citizens choose the issues to address in the programs. The IRfJ project is funded by the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation in the US, a private foundation. Funding is administered through my partner NGO in the US called Insight Collaborative ( insightcollaborative.org).
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