Government spokesperson urges international community to address DRC spillover into Rwanda
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Transcript
00:00 How do you see collaboration with other actors, particularly with civil society and local communities,
00:08 in trying to get the message across and also understanding what their views are
00:14 and building that into what peacekeeping does?
00:17 I think this should be a deliberate effort that starts even before deployment,
00:24 built into the work that starts in advance, in advancing and preparing for the particular situations
00:32 that the peacekeepers are going into, including language and cultural and other factors that affect the success of the mission.
00:38 And I hope Fran and other colleagues will find a way to clear the bureaucratic hurdles
00:43 so that the stratcoms can be fit for purpose and we can move along better on this.
00:49 There should also be an aspect of active dialogue. It's not just about missions informing the communities,
00:55 they should be informed by the communities. So it's a two-way dialogue.
01:00 And that also helps to build trust and avoid speculation and unrealistic expectations.
01:07 Even with explaining why the mission is there, for instance,
01:11 it shouldn't be taken for granted that people in the host community understand why the mission is there.
01:19 This has to be clear right from the beginning.
01:23 So these open communication channels have to be used to address concerns,
01:30 tackle misinformation together more effectively, and ensure accountability where grievances come up.
01:40 There should be an effort to really encourage local input into addressing areas of concern,
01:47 especially around sensitive issues.
01:50 There's also the issue of cultural sensitivity and understanding the history and background of that particular community.
02:00 Because wherever the root causes of that particular conflict are not understood,
02:08 and we've seen that in this area, it just prolongs the conflict,
02:12 and we seem to be applying solutions that don't work because we don't understand where we're coming from with the particular situations.
02:19 We also need to address particular needs of women and other vulnerable groups in a very specific way.
02:31 Also understanding the cultural sensitivities of the area.
02:36 I think finally, not finally, almost finally, peacekeepers cannot be seen as party to the conflict.
02:44 There has to be transparency in the mission activities and decision-making processes,
02:50 so that, in order again to build that trust and keep that conversation going with the community.
02:57 There's one more thing that I think is not talked about enough and we need to examine,
03:03 and that's the role of mainstream media, including regional and international media, in perpetuating misinformation.
03:15 There's a wider context to this, especially in reporting on Africa and other less developed regions.
03:21 Across the world, media budgets, even in big media outlets, budgets are falling,
03:28 which means there's a reduction in staff, which means the bureaus, the foreign bureaus, are not the same as they used to be.
03:34 They're not staffed the way they used to be.
03:36 There's increased reliance on inexperienced stringers.
03:40 We have, for instance, you may have one foreign correspondent reporting for a major Western paper based in one capital,
03:53 but covering 15 countries, and all the news goes through that one person.
04:00 And in some areas where there's no media presence at all, there's increased reliance on NGOs.
04:09 So that affects the quality of reporting that's coming out.
04:12 If you add to this the general lack of scrutiny on the stories coming from Africa
04:20 and a lower standard of rigor when it comes to journalistic ethics,
04:28 then we'd have mainstream media, whether it's deliberate or not, but then that perpetuates misinformation.
04:36 And this is something that we see quite often.
04:40 It's something that needs to be challenged by host governments, by missions, by civil society,
04:49 by those who have the real facts on the ground.
04:52 Because if it's not addressed, if it's not challenged, if it's not corrected,
04:55 then we get into a never-ending cycle of the wrong information being perpetuated by these mega platforms,
05:03 and it's hard to bring it back.
05:06 So that's a challenge that needs to be addressed,
05:11 because it has a huge effect on how peacekeeping operations are perceived.
05:18 I'll give an example again about Rwanda, for instance.
05:20 We've had several times, I have personally called editors in Paris, for instance,
05:26 and major news agencies where there's a story, for instance,
05:30 on sexual exploitation of minors by a particular troop contributing, troops from a particular country.
05:41 And the story that appears on that media is a photo of Rwandan troops with a flag of Rwanda,
05:48 and it's quite blatant, it even mismatches, doesn't fit with the title, with the heading of the story.
05:55 So when you call the editors, like, I think there's a misunderstanding here,
05:58 this story is about this issue, and the photo that's illustrating is completely different.
06:04 So we've had them apologize and then do the right thing.
06:08 But if you don't point it out, it just stays there,
06:13 and it goes into the database of misinformation, and then AI comes in and picks it up,
06:21 and then it's hard to correct later.
06:24 So we need to be aware of this and find ways to work with mainstream media,
06:30 understanding the limitations that international media faces these days,
06:34 and then work within that to ensure that the right thing is being done.
06:39 Just addressing the question about host governments being the spreader of misinformation,
06:47 I think one thing that can guard against this, I mean, situations are different,
06:56 it's a case-by-case basis, but in general, I think there needs to be consistency in putting people first.
07:02 Putting people first, the people who need protection,
07:07 and the reason that we are there in the first place, then communicating successes, clearly.
07:13 I think the contradictions that pop up, that are lingering, have to be addressed, honestly,
07:22 and then continued direct dialogue with the government and other stakeholders.
07:27 I think these are efforts that need to continue in general in situations like this.
07:35 I mean, if we give an example of, for instance, I know MONUSCO has taken a beating lately,
07:42 but there's some successes that need to be talked about more.
07:45 I saw yesterday that they tweeted about that in the last 20 years or so,
07:52 over 10,000 ex-combatants have been repatriated to Rwanda, where we have a very successful DDR program.
08:02 That's a very positive thing, not well known, and it's something that MONUSCO has managed to do,
08:07 working with other stakeholders here in the DRC over the years.
08:13 And along with, if there were other actions, positive actions along in that direction,
08:20 then we could go some way into starting to resolve the root causes of the conflict in eastern DRC.
08:28 So successes have to be communicated, but it's essentially about putting people first.
08:32 And the reason why these combatants actually come to the MONUSCO base is because they trust that they will then be protected,
08:42 and then sent back into a program that will lead to them eventually being reintegrated back into the community.
08:49 That's a good thing.
08:51 So these have to be communicated quite clearly,
08:56 so that the respect for this mission grows and the trust becomes more entrenched.
09:06 When someone within the UN system was appointed to do that kind of work,
09:11 to monitor hate speech and help us all prevent genocide,
09:19 sounds the alarm, and this is not taken up.
09:22 And then you have another part of the system that puts out reports that then blame the victims.
09:29 There's a contradiction there that needs to be addressed.
09:32 And even more, sorry about this, about MONUSCO,
09:37 in terms of consistency, I don't know if we saw what happened this weekend.
09:43 Right here at the border, 200 kilometers away from where we're sitting right now,
09:48 we had the same people, the same groups, illegal armed groups, including the FDLR,
09:53 who are responsible for hate speech in eastern DRC,
10:00 who are at the border on the DRC side, armed, with children mingling in the crowd,
10:13 shouting hate speech with their guns.
10:16 I didn't see any communication about that.
10:19 I don't know if there was any kind of social listening about that,
10:22 but that's an example of something that's left unsaid by the right people,
10:28 that then contributes to the perpetuation of hate speech
10:33 and emboldens the people who continue to do this.
10:37 And then it has a direct effect on people's lives,
10:41 including on exodus of refugees seeking safety across the border,
10:46 that then go into another UN system for protection, and another government.
10:54 So I think all these are tied together, and this is the point about consistency.
10:58 So yes, we need to communicate successes, but we also need to point out the challenges,
11:03 and when threats emerge that are very clear to the naked eye,
11:09 you know, hundreds of people with guns at the border shouting across words that we all know very well historically,
11:15 that we all recognize that the UN has been teaching us about for the last almost 30 years,
11:20 I think this is something that needs to be addressed,
11:22 and it cannot go without being said, because we're living it right now.
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