Droit pour Tous campaign in final preparation stage

After a full year of intensive preparations, the ‘Droit pour Tous’ (rights for all) campaign will enter its one-month pilot phase in August.This latest Mobile Cinema project aims to put a halt to impunity in the justice system. After the one-month pilot phase, last necessary changes can be made to the campaign tools. The official launch of the campaign is scheduled for October 2012. The campaign will run until September 2013. In April a coordinator was contracted who is in charge implementing the campaign in Congo.

 The films of the campaign

Two films have been developed. One is destined at community members which shows the rules and legal steps involved in cases on land rights, sexual violence and the rights of the accused.

The other film targets lawyers and judges and focuses on the moral aspects of their profession in order to help overcome corruption, subjectivity in rulings and the weak application of procedures.

During two successful workshops in Congo (October 2011 and May 2012) the content of the films has been defined in close collaboration with a workgroup containing Congolese human rights defenders, judges and the Ministry of Justice. Some additional filming was done in February so as to fill in some gaps.

Implementing organisations in Congo

The films will be shown during Mobile Cinema screenings, either on a big screen outside or in smaller in-doors working group sessions. So far, eight Congolese partner organisations receive the films and projection equipment and will, with a sub-grant made available by the campaign’s budget, organize a large number of screenings in Kinshasa and South Kivu. The people that will facilitate the screenings will be trained for the purpose. The aim is to let at least 15 other organisations to join in from October onwards. Some of those will also receive a sub-grant, for others funds will be negotiated through their international donors that support projects in the justice sector. Any organization in Congo whose interventions fit with the campaign’s logic can on the basis of a screening plan/proposition request the campaign materials, so that the campaign can grow nation-wide.

Complementary campaign tools

The films will be complemented by other communication tools, such as radio programs, television series and a comic book. These will be developed in collaboration with Search for Common Ground; a long-standing partner in previous Mobile Cinema projects in Congo. Complementary activities, such as petitions, lobby events and the distribution of for example hats and bracelets carrying the campaign’s logo and slogan are also planned.