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E N V I S I O N I N G T H E R E T U R N : P A R T I C I PA T OR Y V I D E O F O R V O L U N T A R Y R E PA T R I AT I O N A N D S U S T A I N A B L E R E I N T E G R A T I ON | 1 7

CHAPTER 2

Envisioning the Return: Participatory Video for

Voluntary Repatriation and Sustainable

ReintegrationMelissa Brough and Charles Otieno-Hongo

In 2005, following the much-awaited signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for

South Sudan, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners beganramping up for the repatriation of refugees from Africas longest-running civil war. If

successful, this movement, entailing up to half a million refugees in six surrounding countries,

could serve as an example for future repatriation efforts in the region and other parts of the

world. Yet despite the renewed sense of hope brought about by the peace agreement,

refugees waiting just below the border in the Kakuma Camp in Kenya expressed sentiments

ranging from distrust of UNHCR, partner agencies and the fledgling government of South

Sudan, to pessimism about the likelihood of a sustained peace, to fear of returning to an

unrecognisable country that many had left as children.Indeed, the repatriation process itself

was just one part of the equation; anxieties about successfully reintegrating in the war-torn

country were high. Refugees expressed a need for information about the support they would

receive in the repatriation process, the conditions they would be returning to in South Sudan,and how to overcome challenges to reintegrating and rebuilding their communities.

In an effort to support the process, as well as to involve Sudanese refugee youth in mobilising the

refugee community, FilmAid International turned to participatory video, a methodology for

promoting social change through individual and community empowerment. Through video-based

activities, youths were engaged in dialogue and awareness-raising about repatriation and concerns

critical to reintegration.1 Drawing also on youth development and media for development

methodologies, the programme enabled the youths to produce short videos and newscasts that

were shared with the Sudanese community in Kakuma at large. The authors assisted in the

development, implementation and monitoring of the project. Here they reflect on innovations,

challenges faced, and how lessons learned might be applied to future projects using the power ofvideo to help ensure a voluntary return and a sustainable reintegration.

Background

FilmAid International

Founded in 1999, FilmAid International is a non-profit organisation that utilises film and

video to promote health, strengthen communities and enrich the lives of the worlds forcibly

1 Youth participants in

FilmAids programmes range

in age from fifteen to thirty.


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2 www.filmaid.org

displaced.2 Using educational and entertaining programming, FilmAids aim is to facilitate social

change by increasing individuals knowledge and confidence, and by providing information and

opportunities for people to come together to explore, debate and express ideas.

FilmAid has been working with Sudanese refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwestern

Kenya since 2001. Partnering with UNHCR and other agencies such as the International Rescue

Committee and Handicap International, as well as members of both the refugee and host

communities, FilmAid serves as the primary agency for information dissemination in the camp. Its

open-air screenings often reach audiences of thousands at once; feature films are preceded by

cartoons, a public service announcement and an educational short. In addition to psychosocial

relief, FilmAid provides information on critical topics such as conflict prevention, human rights,

HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. Screenings are also held in community centres, schools,

hospitals and infant feeding centres on such topics as teenage pregnancy, reproductive health, and

education for girls.

FilmAid works with local advisory committees to ensure that the content used in its programmes

is appropriate and relevant for the intended audience. FilmAids Kakuma staff is comprised

primarily of refugees from the community, who are directly involved in programme design,

implementation and monitoring.

Refugees gather as

FilmAid sets up an evening

film screening in Kakuma

Camp, Kenya.

Photo courtesy of FilmAidInternational.


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Kakuma Camp

One of the largest in the world, Kakuma Refugee Camp is located in the Turkana District of northern

Kenya. It was formed in 1992 when over 10,000 unaccompanied minors known as the Lost Boys arrivedin Kenya after walking hundreds of miles to flee the violence in Sudan. When news of the peace agreement

for South Sudan broke in 2005, the camp was home to over 90,000 refugees from ten countries; nearly

69,000 were Sudanese.3 Of these, approximately 70 per cent were youth.4

The Sudanese community in Kakuma is composed of several different tribes, including Dinka,

Nuer, Didinga, Lotuko and Lopit. Fewer than 10 per cent of the Sudanese in Kakuma Camp have

more than a primary school education. Many do not share fluency in a common language.

Communication barriers (language and illiteracy), compounded by social norms and limited

resources, often leave the most vulnerable women and minorities isolated from information

sources, adding to the challenges faced by this repatriation movement.

The possibility of return: working towards a sustainable repatriation and

reintegration

Repatriation is a process in which refugees are actively involved, rather than being passive

participants.

Khalid Koser 5

Over two decades of civil war in South Sudan resulted in more than two million deaths and

displaced over four million people from their homes. The signing of the 2005 peace agreement

between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army opened

the door for UNHCR and its partners to begin assisting over half a million refugees to return fromcamps like Kakuma and others in neighbouring countries. However, the first two years of the

repatriation movement witnessed much lower rates of return than originally projected. 6

According to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol,

refugees are guaranteed protection against refoulement, or involuntary return. Voluntary repatriation

requires that refugees have the legal, physical and socio-economic ability as well as objective and

accurate information to make a free choice about remaining in the host country or returning

home. As stated in UNHCRs handbook on Voluntary Repatriation, only an informed decision

can be a voluntary decision.7

To assess the level of knowledge about repatriation, an independent researcher affiliated withBoston Universitys Center for International Health and Development and hired by FilmAid

International surveyed 233 Sudanese refugees in Kakuma Camp in June 2006. The majority

reported that they did not understand the process of voluntary repatriation, including their rights

and entitlements, and felt they lacked sufficient information to prepare to reintegrate in South

Sudan.8 Nearly a year later, graduate student researchers from Columbia Universitys School of

International and Public Affairs (SIPA) observed that this lack of information was still a likely

3 UNCHR Electronic Data

Processing Department,

Nairobi Branch Office, May

2005.

4 FilmAid International, 2007.

5 Koser, Khalid (1997)

Information and Repatriation:

The Case of Mozambican

Refugees in Malawi,Journal of

Refugee Studies, 10(1), p. 15.

6 FilmAid Kakuma Office, 2006,

2007.

7 UNHCR (1996) Voluntary

Repatriation: International

Protection. Handbook.

Geneva: UNHCR.

8 Lee, Katharine (2007) Impact

of FilmAid Programs in Kakuma,

Kenya: Final Report. New York:

FilmAid International.

http://www.filmaid.org/where/

bueval.shtml



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factor contributing to the low rate of repatriation.9 A UNHCR assessment in September 2005

noted that minority groups and women had particularly limited access to information.10

UNHCR and its partner agencies were therefore responsible not only for assisting the repatriation,

but also for providing the information and protection necessary to ensure that the process was

voluntary and the return sustainable. This included accurate and objective country of origin

information information about South Sudan such as political, economic and security conditions,

availability of jobs, education, health care services, food and other goods, the state of infrastructure

(roads, water sources, etc.) and the presence of landmines. In his study of the repatriation of

Mozambiquan refugees in Malawi, Koser (1997) found the following:

There has been strong criticism of the way that repatriation is promoted by the international

community (Harrell-Bond 1989), and one particular focus of that criticism has been a general

failure to understand and facilitate refugees own strategies for return (Wilson 1993). Byconfirming the value that many refugees place upon information about their home country,

a potentially larger role for the international community can be suggested to be either the

direct supply of information, or at least the support of an infrastructure through which

refugees can obtain information case study emphasizes the need for the full

participation of refugees in cross-border information programmes as well as in

repatriation projects more generally.11

The study also determined that refugees seek information both from official institutional sources,

perceived as more credible on certain topics, and from personal contacts who are more trusted on

other matters, thereby implying that a multi-level approach to providing repatriation information

to refugees in the camp would be most effective.

Additionally, recent initiatives such as the Dialogue on Voluntary Repatriation and Sustainable

Reintegration in Africa and UNHCRs Convention Plus have called for a more holistic and

integrated approach to reintegration and rehabilitation, rooted in community-based programming.12

During the Dialogue, in which African and other interested governments, UN agencies, international

organisations and NGOs participated, the social and economic reintegration of populations was

cited as the most delicate period in any peace process.13 UNHCR has further noted, experience

shows that if the issue of sustainability or reintegration of refugee and displaced populations is not

addressed properly, the countries concerned will almost inevitably slide back into conflict.14

Numerous variables may influence the sustainability of return and reintegration. Key among themare employment, housing, security, education and public and social services and infrastructure.15

Although meeting even basic needs during repatriation and reintegration is a challenge, researchers

and practitioners increasingly acknowledge the importance of cultural and psychosocial factors, i.e.

how individuals sense of home and belonging changes, and how cultural and social practices

may have changed in exile, potentially leading to rifts between returnees and those who remained

in the country of origin.

9 Bajoria, J., Keith, A. and Wax,

A. (2007) Monitoring the Reach

and Impact of Country of Origin

Information Dissemination for

Sudanese Refugees in Kakuma

Refugee Camp, Kenya: Final

Report to FilmAid International.

New York: Columbia University

School of International and

Public Affairs. Additional

factors may include the lack of

infrastructure in South Sudan,

preferences for resettlement

(as opposed to repatriation),

and uncertainty about the

sustainability of the peace.

10 UNHCR Participatory

Assessment in Kakuma,

September 2005. Information

provided by FilmAids Kakuma

Office.

11 Koser (1997) op. cit., pp.

1516, emphasis added.

12 UNHCR (2004) Dialogue on

Voluntary Repatriation and

Sustainable Reintegration in

Africa: Chairmans Summing

up and Conclusions. Geneva:

UNHCR, p. 2.

13 Ibid.

14 UNHCR (2004) In R. Black

and S. Gent, Defining,Measuring and Influencing

Sustainable Return: The Case of

the Balkans. Development

Research Centre on Migration,

Globalisation and Poverty, p.

12.

15 Black, R., Koser, K. and

Munk, K. (2004). In Black and

Gent, op. cit.

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In fact, the material and psycho-social difficulties that accompany reintegration are

extremely intertwined and should not be separated; landlessness, joblessness, homelessness,

food insecurity etc. all impact on the psychological well-being of the returnee. Nonetheless,the meaning of returning home and its psychosocial implications are persistently

overlooked by the international refugee regime which assumes that, apart from the obvious

material difficulties accompanying reintegration, returnees will naturally re-connect with

their homeland and recover the feeling of well-being they enjoyed before the events leading

to their flight. The problem is not only that this belief is wrong, but that it is shared by the

returnees themselves.16

These are some of the complex factors involved in ensuring refugees a safe, informed and voluntary

repatriation and sustainable reintegration. Recent innovations have been made with regard to

information dissemination in the repatriation process, such as Search for Common Grounds mass

information campaigns using radio news broadcasts and serial dramas in West Africa.17 However,the extent to which refugees (with the possible exception of refugee community leaders) are being

directly engaged in the process of meeting repatriation and reintegration informational needs is still

limited. And while theatre has been used in reintegration settings to address conflict

transformation, the use of video to support reintegration has been minimal. Furthermore, a model

for using participatory video in this context does not exist. Participatory video methodologies could

ensure that the refugee community participates in the dissemination of repatriation information

as well as encourage discussions about anticipated challenges and possible solutions to

reintegration, engaging the lesser-heard voices of women and youth.

Involving refugee youth in the voluntary repatriation and reintegration process

If the youth are not coming home, then the country will not be developed all the youth

must unite for the better future in our country.

Lokot Paul, a Sudanese refugee youth, in the participatory video production The Storm Is Over

The overarching goal of FilmAids repatriation project was to contribute to a safe, informed and

voluntary repatriation of Sudanese refugees residing in Kenya and to help facilitate the

rehabilitation process in southern Sudan by equipping refugees with knowledge of issues critical

to reintegration. The desired outcome was that beneficiaries would have a greater understanding

of assisted repatriation procedures, their rights and entitlements, and issues relevant to reintegration

so that they are better prepared for repatriation and a healthy reintegration in Southern Sudan.18

In the autumn of 2005, FilmAids Kakuma staff began a mass public information campaign onrepatriation and issues relevant to reintegration through large, open-air screenings and smaller,

video-based workshops.19

In the autumn of 2006, a country of origin information campaign was piloted in addition to these

activities, in response to calls from the refugee community for information about the specific

conditions in their home regions.20 To further address the multidimensional nature of the

16 Ghanem, Tania (2005). In A.

Bolesta, Refugee Crises and

International Response:

Towards Permanent Solutions?

Warsaw: Leon Kozminski

Academy of Entrepreneurship

and Management, pp. 12425.

17 Search for Common

Ground is a non-profit

organisation that focuses on

conflict resolution and conflict

prevention. See:

http://www.sfcg.org/program

mes/liberia/liberia_successrefu

gee.html

18 FilmAid Internationals

Proposal to the Bureau of

Population, Refugees and

Migration (BPRM), 2005. The

majority of FilmAids

repatriation-related activities

were funded by BPRM, an

office of the U.S. State

Department.

19Topics included

repatriation rights,

entitlements and procedures,

prevention of sexual

exploitation and abuse as well

as other protection concerns,

HIV/AIDS awareness, conflict

resolution and mine risk

education. These topics were

identified as priority issueareas through discussions with

the refugee community.

20 Co-ordinating a country of

origin information campaign

would have been challenging

any sooner, given that

procedures and resources for

gathering the information in

South Sudan were still being

established by partner agencies.



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information needs and increase the communitys involvement, FilmAid engaged refugee youth in

the repatriation project through participatory video activities.

In post-conflict settings, the most common experience for youth is one of alienation and

exclusion.21 Having a way to contribute directly to their communities can greatly affect youths

self-esteem and helps them become actors who are able to address a range of community needs in

the future.22 Creating a space for youth to express themselves and develop their voices was of

utmost importance in this case, given the particular nature of this repatriation, which entailed the

return of the Lost Boys of Sudan and thousands of other youth upon whom the future stability

of the country will depend.

In 2001, FilmAid launched a participatory video programme (PVP) in Kakuma Camp to help

meet the need for stimulating activities that encourage creativity, communication and productive

collaboration among the refugee youth. As part of FilmAids involvement in the South Sudan

voluntary repatriation process, FilmAid began focusing its PVP activities in 2005 on training

Sudanese refugee youth in video production in order to help them reflect upon, record and share

21 Bannon, I., Holland, P. and

Rahim, A. (2005) Youth in

Post-Conflict Settings, Youth

Development Notes, 1(1).

Children & Youth Unit, Human

Development Network, World

Bank, p. 4.

[http://siteresources.worldban

k.org/INTCY/Publications/2084

5374/YDN1conflict.pdf]

22World Bank(2005) Children

and Youth: A Framework for

Action. Washington, DC: TheWorld Bank; Park, K., Shiffer, E.

and Sung, E. (2007) Tracking the

Progress of Refugee Youth:

Development of a Monitoring

and Evaluation System for

FilmAid Internationals Youth

Participatory Video Project. New

York: Columbia University School

of International and Public

Affairs.

Sudanese refugees record

voice-overs for a locally

produced video about the

repatriation.

Photo courtesy of FilmAid

International.


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Outcomes

By November 2007, the PVP youth had produced over twenty short films tackling repatriationand other topics they felt were relevant to a safe and sustainable reintegration. These videos were

developed collectively by the youth, who had full creative control over the productions, including

the perspectives presented. The majority address social and health-related concerns including

conflict resolution, forced and early marriage, HIV/AIDS, infidelity, abstinence, teen pregnancy

and child abuse, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse. Of the videos that focused on the

repatriation process itself, one is a documentary-style film in which young people discuss their

fears and hopes about repatriating; another uses drama to illustrate the frustrations of life in the

camp, depicting repatriation as a possible way out of the despair. People have to go back because

this is their homeland; this is where their life must be. If they dont go back who will develop that

place? If they remain here, no one will develop it, argued one Sudanese man in the PVP.

A smaller sub-group of the PVP worked with FilmAid repatriation project staff to developand pilot Kakuma News, two video news clips on country of origin information. The youth

recorded themselves in the role of news anchors, reporting information gathered from

FilmAids partner agencies in Sudan, including the International Rescue Committee, the Lutheran

World Federation, UNHCR and the Sudan Radio Service. Topics addressed

included the current status of the education system, the upcoming government census, and

the status of health concerns in South Sudan. Kakuma News was not strictly a participatory

production, as the content was largely chosen and contextualised by FilmAid staff


PVP participants being

trained to present country

of origin information in

Kakuma News.


International.


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(including refugee staff ) and partner agencies. Furthermore, the youth were offered material

incentives for working on the news clips, which had tight deadlines due to the time-bound nature

of the country of origin information. The sensitive nature of the information (both in terms oftimeliness and content) required the involvement and direction of more senior-level staff.

As of December 2007, nearly 10,500 refugees in Kakuma had seen

Kakuma News, while PVPs videos had reached a cumulative audience of

nearly 60,000. In addition, the youths videos were shown on a television

in the back of FilmAids Mobile Information Van. The van was used to go

further into the camp with detailed written and visual country of origin

information materials that refugees could browse through as needed, with

staff on hand to answer questions.

SuccessesOne immediate success of the PVP activities in Kakuma was that a space was created for Sudanese

youth to become actively involved in discussions about repatriation and reintegration. The Kakuma

refugee community remains structured by traditional Sudanese social hierarchies in which young

people, particularly girls, rarely get the opportunity to articulate their concerns and ideas publicly.

The PVP activities have offered the space for this demographic who will play a critical role in

ensuring a sustainable future for South Sudan to articulate their concerns, fears, hopes and

aspirations.

Another success was identified by SIPA graduate student researchers, who reported that PVP

members expressed a strengthened ability to communicate, as well as greater confidence in groups.

Some of their findings from evaluative focus group discussions (FGDs) are worth quoting atlength:

his favorite experience was directing because he now feels more

confident in leading people under other circumstances in the community. For example,

completing the hectic shooting schedule for a recent film festival gave him

confidence that he can accomplish something more than the usual. Another PVP member

said that before PVP he was afraid to speak to groups, but that now he is more comfortable

expressing himself. Three others replied that they are more confident presenting themselves

in front of people. One said, It has helped me speak my thoughts without any fear. Most

male PVP members within one FGD mentioned that they value the ability to share

information with the community. One added this was important to enable them to change.

Along with developing their confidence, they have begun to realize that their status in the

community is growing. One said he now knows how to find and share information about

important issues like HIV/AIDS. Another said that acting in PVP films has given him some

fame people in the community recognize him now he laughed as he said this.29

29 Park, Shiffer and Sung

(2007) op. cit., p. 27.


As of December 2007, nearly 10,500

refugees in Kakuma had seen Kakuma

News, while the PVPs videos had

reached a cumulative audience of

nearly 60,000.


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The majority of these responses came from male participants, who comprise 66 per cent of the

PVP participants in the repatriation project activities. Nonetheless, the SIPA researchers noted

similar progress among the young women, such as: One of the female participants said that PVPhad greatly impacted her by giving her public speaking skills. Overall, their evaluation of the project

showed a trend of increased levels of communication skills. Both males and females reported

increased levels of comfort when addressing large groups, expressing opinions in the family, and

making statements in the community. 30

Participatory video can be a potent tool for the empowerment of women, who have traditionally

been excluded from the use of technology; women have shown improved communication skills and

self-confidence, which in turn helps elevate their status in their communities.31 FilmAid viewed the

young womens participation in the PVP as an important stepping stone towards ensuring that

their voices were heard in every stage of the repatriation and reintegration process. This is in

keeping with the position put forth in UNHCRs Dialogue on Voluntary Repatriation andSustainable Reintegration in Africa that, All sectors of society, particularly women, youths and

vulnerable groups, must be given the opportunity to contribute meaningfully.32 Recruiting and

sustaining the participation of young women in the PVP was an ongoing challenge to which we

will return later in this chapter. However, the progress made by the young women who did

participate was seen as an important outcome of the projects activities.

Also noteworthy is that adult members of the refugee community observed a positive change in

the youth who had participated in the PVP. As reported by the SIPA researchers, Sudanese women

in focus group discussions perceived that PVP members had experienced positive change and

that it had brought out their hidden potential More than one community member noted that

the PVP program brought a sense of hope to the community. They also found that the PVPsvideos were affecting knowledge and awareness among non-participating youth in the broader

community.33 There is thus evidence of a collective community benefit of the PVP.

Increasing confidence, communication and leadership skills is critical in a community that, due to

great dependency on aid agencies, may be more accustomed to ingratiating themselves rather than

speaking freely. This is further compounded by feelings of helplessness that lead to a lack of

confidence in ones own abilities to proactively solve problems. The potential for participatory video

to counter what Koser calls the dependency syndrome is of particular interest given the vastness

of this challenge in a protracted refugee setting. The fact that tens of thousands of the Sudanese

refugees in Kakuma Camp arrived as children and have grown into young adulthood in the

confines of the camp poses an enormous challenge to a sustainable reintegration; counteringdependency syndrome is particularly difficult when collective memory of independent, organic

community life is scant. As one of the Sudanese youth in the PVP recently said, People should

now forget about dependency it is you to sweat to get what you want. Another noted that

creating a culture of independence will help Sudanese refugees to regain their self-esteem.

30 Ibid.

31 See Garthwaite, A. (2000)

Community Documentaries

and Participatory Video, PLA

Notes, 38.

; Servaes, J., Jacobson, T.L.

and White, S.A. (1996)

Participatory Communication

for Social Change. New Delhi

and Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications; Gumucio Dagron,

A. (2001) Making Waves: Stories

of Participatory Communication

for Social Change. New York:

The Rockefeller Foundation.

32 UNHCR (2004) Dialogue on

Voluntary Repatriation and

Sustainable Reintegration in

Africa: Discussion Paper No. 1.

Refugee Survey Quarterly, 23(3),

p.262.


(2007) op. cit., pp. 29, 32.



12/16

Although FilmAid has made a concerted effort to promote the autonomy of the PVP project, many

participants still believe that they engage in PVP activities primarily on behalf of the organisation. FilmAid

continues to experiment with participatory video methodologies in refugee camp settings, but its staff oftenstruggle to articulate the concept of a youth group that is autonomous yet at the same time necessarily

dependent on FilmAids support.34 It has been a challenge for the youth to internalise ownership of the

project. The culture of dependency in protracted refugee contexts makes it difficult to unlock creativity

and self-motivation. So while the project has met with some success in creating a platform for uninhibited

discussion among the PVP members, this has at times been tempered by the youths tendency to mimic

the pedantic style of communication learned in school and from NGOs in the camp, rather than forging

their own creative and critical communication styles.

At the same time, however, there are promising signs of capacity and skills

building, with unexpected benefits. An independent evaluator of FilmAids

repatriation project recently reported that technical training and capacitybuilding through PVP has provided opportunities to refugees that would

otherwise not be available. For example, one member is now working with a

TV station in Southern Sudan while another is working in a radio station.

Another member is working as an editor for a radio station in Nairobi.35

In their work on reintegration, PVP participants showed an eagerness to help steer their

communities away from inter-tribal conflict and towards a lasting peace. Inter-tribal conflict had

played an ongoing role in the devastation of South Sudan and tribal tensions periodically surface

in Kakuma Camp. The argument expressed by one participant that, People should forget about

tribalism and think about development, was supported by the PVPs activities to raise awareness

about conflict resolution in preparation for reintegration. According to the SIPA researchers, PVPmembers felt that the diversity of the participants in the project itself (nearly all of the Sudanese

tribes were represented) served as an example to the broader Sudanese community of peaceful

collaboration across tribes.36

Challenges and limitations

While FilmAids PVP programme is not new, its repatriation project is. As with any new project

particularly one with few examples or models on which to draw several valuable lessons can

be gleaned. First, participatory video in a protracted refugee setting may require a longer time

period to develop a culture of autonomy and self-empowerment, which otherwise may emerge

more quickly in traditional community contexts. This is due primarily to systemic issues that

encourage the culture of dependency, mentioned above. The Kakuma Camp context is particularlychallenging given that many of the youth have spent the majority of their lives in the camp. Time,

both on the part of support staff and the youths themselves, is therefore a key factor. In Kakuma,

a majority of the members are still in school and must juggle the PVP activities with their

schoolwork. The harsh environment further limits the hours of productivity in a day. Productions

are often rushed to completion over school holidays, compromising the consistency of learning, as

well as the quality of their videos.


34 In an effort to promote the

autonomy of the PVP, FilmAid,

in collaboration with the

youth, has structured the

group as a club. The youth

developed their own club

constitution and elected

leadership positions. They are

directly involved in yearly,

participatory, strategic

planning activities to

determine their own priorities

for the club. The youth

introduce their videos at

FilmAids regular outdoor

evening screenings, and have

also held their own film

festival showcasing their

videos in the camp.

35 Pabari (2007) op. cit., p. 12.


(2007) op. cit., p. 32.

An independent evaluator of FilmAids

repatriation project recently reported

that technical training and capacitybuilding through PVP has provided

opportunities to refugees that would

otherwise not be available.


13/16


(2007), op. cit., pp. 3031.

38 Ibid.

39 No positive or negative

valuation of the cultural

changes that may occur

during exile is implied by the

authors. Ghanem, in Bolesta

(2005), op. cit., p. 125; Dona, G.

and Berry, J.W. (1999) Refugee

Acculturation and Re-

acculturation, in A. Ager (ed.),

Refugees: The Perspectives on

the Experience of Forced

Migration. New York: Cassell.


Young women face the additional challenges of domestic chores and cultural constraints. The role

of women in the Sudanese community in Kakuma is typically confined to doing household chores,

fetching water and looking after children. In a focus group discussion conducted by the graduate

student research team, female PVP members noted chores, schoolwork, cultural constraints andthe lack of pay as reasons some young women had cited for dropping out of the programme. 37

Even in more liberal settings where women and girls are allowed to articulate their views, rarely are

they encouraged to participate. Given these circumstances, it was not surprising that the rate of

participation of young women was lower than hoped; this has been the case since the projects

inception despite outreach efforts in the community to encourage support for female participation.

Interestingly, in a focus group discussion with male youth from the refugee community who were

not members of the PVP, there was an overwhelming consensus that more women should be

involved in the PVP.38 This is one example of the ways in which this generation of Sudanese youth

may be different from their predecessors. Exposure to host community practices, as well as the

heavy influence of Western aid agencies on camp life, creates the conditions for social and cultural

practices to change significantly among refugee communities in a protracted exile.39 Anxieties about

reintegrating and reconciling the resulting social and cultural differences have commonly been

expressed in the PVPs discussions.

Because of repatriation, turnover (of both Sudanese refugee staff and PVP members) has been

high, slowing the projects progress as replacement staff and participants are trained. This will be

an inherent challenge to participatory media projects in repatriation settings. Furthermore, as the

Sudanese women

participate in a workshop

on HIV/AIDS.


International.


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number of refugees returning to South Sudan increases, organisations should consider all of the

ways in which they might support the reintegration process in order to ensure that the repatriation

is sustainable. Ideally, a project of this sort would be cross-border in nature so that PVP memberscould continue to develop their skills and be assisted in reintegrating in their country of origin.

However, this has been a challenge for FilmAid because of southern Sudans vast size, lack of

infrastructure and high operating costs and the organisations limited resources.

FilmAids reintegration strategy thus far has been to focus on the youth in the PVP in Kakuma,

to assist them in examining the challenges to reintegration that they may face and to explore

possible solutions.

Measuring impact is yet another inevitable challenge of participatory video. As referenced

throughout this chapter, FilmAid has enlisted the help of independent researchers to provide

assessments of the projects initial outcomes. The added challenges of working in a refugee setting,

particularly during repatriation, may slow the pace of progress and the production of materialdeliverables that can be shared with donors. Donor fatigue can be a particular problem in a

repatriation context, where rate of return is often slower than expected and outcomes may be less

predictable. Developing the autonomy of the PVP while simultaneously meeting donor

expectations has been an ongoing challenge for the FilmAid project. Donors frequently desire

quantifiable impact indicators, which can be a challenge for participatory video projects due to the

qualitative, often long-term nature of the objectives. The participatory methodology can be

compromised by donors whose costbenefit analyses emphasise reaching the largest number of

people on the smallest budget.

Lessons learned and suggestions for the future

One of the goals of this study was to begin to develop a set of best practices for future projects

using participatory video in repatriation contexts. Towards that end we will offer some initial notes.

First, as with any programme in a refugee setting, protection concerns must be taken into account.

Young women participating in youth group activities may be particularly vulnerable to mental or

physical attack because they are perceived as going against cultural expectations and norms,

particularly if the group is mixed gender. FilmAid is committed to preventing sexual exploitation

and abuse and as such all staff, volunteers and PVP participants must sign a code of conduct and

be trained on the topic. However, as PVP members are not FilmAid staff, there is little action that

can be taken against youth who violate this code. Protection concerns remain a primary

consideration.

Another recommended practice is to ensure the involvement of the refugee community at every

stage of project design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Participatory approaches to

these stages can strengthen ownership, build community and contribute to long-term sustainability.

That includes a participatory approach to defining the measures of sustainability itself in the

context of repatriation and reintegration.



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Further research on the potential for participatory video to address psychosocial aspects of

repatriation, such as anxiety, fear and conflict, would be helpful for future programme design.

reconstruction of ones links to home is seldom a straight-forward, spontaneous

and effortless process Their experience is compared to a person who has undergone a

severe car accident. When one takes the drivers seat again, all the feelings and emotions

from the accident come to the surface once more the decision to return raises anxieties

even for those who have been dreaming of their homecoming for many years.40

Addressing the psychosocial needs of refugees in Kakuma has been one of FilmAids primary goals

from the start. However, further study of the therapeutic potential of participatory video and

theatre to help refugees particularly youth come to terms with their anxieties and fears about

reintegration is needed.

As we have argued, future repatriation projects should have a cross-border component to enable

as much support for reintegration as possible. This could facilitate additional ways of gathering

country of origin information, as well as the possibility of addressing tensions between returnees

and those who remained in country. One model would be to provide the

tools and training to pre-existing community groups or local

organisations in South Sudan, who are in a better position to offer

participatory video programmes than organisations that were previously

operating only in the camps.

While the PVP was only minimally involved in FilmAids country of origin information campaign,

it should be noted that such information particularly communicated through a visual medium is powerful, and may have unintended effects. As Koser and others have noted, information can

also be a coercive force, compromising the voluntary nature of the decision to return. During the

planning stage of FilmAids repatriation project, careful consideration was given to how to collect,

package and disseminate the country of origin information, and to what extent and how the PVP

(and other members of the refugee community) could be involved. The conditions in southern

Sudan are ever-changing and delivering information (particularly related to security) one day that

could be erroneous the next was a significant protection concern.41 Koser has argued that, emphasis

should be placed on the way that information about home conditions is received and evaluated.42

This is particularly important in a community where media literacy is relatively low; some viewers

may not be as prepared to contextualise and evaluate the information they see on the screen as

those of us accustomed to navigating a screen-saturated society with a critical eye.

Lastly, practitioners should remain self-reflective and sensitive to modes of thinking that may not

apply to every refugee community. As several researchers and practitioners have found, individuals

sense of home and belonging may no longer be associated with their country of origin. (The

current system of repatriation as a durable solution does not take this into account.) Further,

because most participatory media models were based upon Western conceptions of democracy

40 Ghanem, in Bolesta (2005),

op. cit., pp. 117, 126.

41 Koser documented

examples in Malawi of

repatriation decisions made

based on inaccurate

information about conditions

in Mozambique (the country

of origin), or on information

that had changed by the time

the refugees had returned.

Koser also noted that The

potency of (mis)information

campaigns in discouraging

refugees from returning has

been witnessed in the recent

past in the case of Rwandan

refugees. Koser (1997), op. cit.,

p. 3.

42 Ibid.


Developing the autonomy of the PVP

while simultaneously meeting donor

expectations has been an ongoing

challenge for the FilmAid project.


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and empowerment, planners must remain flexible and open to different ways of helping the

community meet its own needs on its own terms.

Conclusion

While we may understand the power of the visual, we do not yet understand all of the possible

impacts that video might have in the complex context of repatriation and reintegration, where

much is at stake. As Black and Gent have noted, what happens to returnees, whether return is

sustainable, and what contributes to the sustainability of return, remain under-explored areas. 43

The multidimensional nature of the information needs in a repatriation context cannot be

underestimated. Combining participatory video with mass information campaigns is an important

step towards meeting these needs, guided by the direct involvement of the refugee community.

FilmAids engagement of refugee youth in the repatriation process through participatory video

activities can help inform the design of future repatriation support services and information

campaigns. Even more important, perhaps, is the contribution participatory video might make to

ensuring the sustainability of the reintegration process, an area for further exploration and

innovation. As this chapter has examined, there are unique opportunities as well as challenges to

using participatory video in a refugee setting, with added considerations in the context of

repatriation. A truly voluntary repatriation may remain an elusive goal under current systems of

governance, but ensuring the dignity of the return through access to information and

communication channels should not be.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank FilmAid Internationals Kakuma, Nairobi and New York offices

for their assistance. They also thank Anthony Muteru, Amy Kwan, Franois Bar, Amy Keith,

Ashley Wax, Jayshree Bajoria, Kendra Park, Erin Shiffer and Elizabeth Sung.

43 Black, R. and Gent, S. (2004)

Defining, Measuring and

Influencing Sustainable Return:

The Case of the Balkans.

Brighton: Development

Research Centre on Migration,

Globalisation and Poverty, p.

19.


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