Annual Report

2012

Creative Approaches to Social Change

DeAR FRienDs oF iReX euRope

201 2 was a year filled with significant events and milestones for iReX europe. Two stand out

in particular. our work with the european Humanities university, the Belarusian university

in exile based in Vilnius, Lithuania came to an end, but we are proud and delighted to see

the new teaching practices and facilities we introduced with the support of the european

union continue to be actively used by the university and for the students. The eHu has

taken ownership of the emediahub and the burden of maintenance and support of the

modern digital journalism training centre meaning eHu students can receive practical

training relevant to the rapidly changing digital media world. Meanwhile, on the other side

of the world in the harsh semi-desert environment of somaliland iReX europe and our

partner KoW Media Foundation based in Hargeisa held the first ever Film, Art and picture

festival aimed at promoting peace and tolerance in the Horn of Africa. The festival was a

tremendous success attracting entrants from across the region as well as from the somali

diaspora. The festival built on our work with the somali community to promote peace and

understanding through the use of theatre (Drama for Conflict Transformation) and through

the promotion of culture and art.

The real work and courage was of course in the participants, the young film makers and

artists, and the KoW media team along with theatre troupe Geediga nabada working in

environments often hostile to the use of theatre and art. But let’s take a moment too to

recognise the work of the iReX europe team and their efforts on the ground helping ensure

the project was implemented efficiently and effectively.

Michael de VilliersiReX europe Director

Mark WhitehouseiReX europe president

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92% of youth think DCT useful to promote community tolerance

(page 3)

EHUlaunches its first multimedia summer camp

(page 8)

+10000 people attend the first ever somaliland Film, Art, and photo Festival Hargeisa, somaliland

(page 6)

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DRAMA FoR ConFLiCT TrAnSformATionDCT is a grassroots approach to conflict mitigation that encourages improvisation and

debate to develop new views and behaviours. DCT theory recognises that many cultural

traditions use theatre for story telling and communication. Drama also provides a unique

opportunity to try new methods to resolve conflict outside the ‘risks’ of real life. iReX

europe uses DCT to work with youth in conflict areas, including Central Asia, indonesia,

Kenya, and somaliland. our process involves a ‘training of trainers’ phase where we train

youth leaders to lead at-risk youth in an intensive DCT training. Youth leaders then train

at-risk youth to create plays based upon community issues. Actors act out the plays in their

community, and then a trained facilitator (or joker) leads the audience in a debate on the

play. The play is then shown again and audience members are invited to take the role of

the actors, trying out various ways to resolve the conflct in real life. By helping its ‘spect-

actors’ recongise and name the forces that are oppressing them, DCT helps participants

find ways to recognise and react to deeply entrenched problems and generate positive and

new ways to react to conflict.

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THeATRe FoR PeACeKenya is home to 900,000 somali refugees and Kenyan-somalis. somalis first arrived in

Kenya in the 19th century; however, immigration increased following the civil war which

broke out in somalia in 1991 , when many somalis sought asylum in the somali-inhabited

enclaves of Kenya. Kenya also hosts Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp.

The Theatre for peace project works to promote peaceful coexistence in the multiethnic

community of Majengo district, Mombasa, which hosts a high number of somali refugees

and a diverse ethnic Kenyan population. in the project, mixed groups of young Kenyans and

somalis are brought together using Drama for Conflict Transformation methodology and

create community performances and debates to raise awareness on sensitive issues such

as drug abuse, disability, fear of Al shabaab and discrimination, underage forced marriage,

polygamy and its effect on children, and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Following our

training, youth led 24 community performances and workshops that reached over 1 500

people. Monitoring and evaluation of our DCT showed: 92% of the group felt the workshop

was a useful way to promote tolerance in their communities, with nearly all Kenyans changing

their perceptions toward somalis living in their communities, and several examples of youth

taking the problem-solving methodology and applying it in their communities.

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ARTs FoR DeveloPmenTiReX europe believes that the arts and creative media can provide new ways to promote

community discussion and reduce conflict, thereby enabling sustainable approaches to

human development. iReX europe has worked with the mediums of theatre and film since

2008. From teaching youth to make documentary films in Yemen, to running a mobile

cinema tour in Bangladesh, and organising a national film festival in somaliland, iReX europe

is playing a leading role in fostering integration of the arts into development practice.

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SomAlilAnD FiLM FesTiVALiReX europe and Kow Media Foundation’s first film, art, and photo festival, held from the

28th February - 1 st of March, 201 3, in Hargeisa, somaliland, attracted over 1 0,000 guests

and participants and was widely covered by local and international media. The festival

aimed to target vulnerable youth by using film and art to promote peace and counter

radicalisation. The Vice president of somaliland, Mr. Ahmed, officially launched the festival.

Also in attendance were representatives of local and international nGos, ministers and

members of parliament.

9 independent film productions were entered into the festival competition. one to note

was a mine awareness short film, shot by a young team of self-taught producers using a

borrowed ‘flip’ camera worth less than $200 and a trial version of Adobe premier for post-

production. The film received an enthusiastic standing ovation and won first prize.

The winners of each category were awarded prizes of cash and equipment and their films

were broadcast in mobile cinemas across the district capitals of somaliland. The film

festival was organised as part of the Theatre for peace project, which targets 48 somali

communities in the 6 regions of somaliland using Drama for Conflict Transformation

methodologies. iReX europe’s ongoing work in somaliland is funded by the uK Foreign

and Commonwealth office.

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MeDiA TrAiningThe three year european neighbourhood: Journalist training and networking project, will

train 1 200 journalists across the enpi region. iReX europe is part of a consortium led

by BBC Media Action. The project targets 1 7 neighbouring countries: Algeria, Armenia,

Azerbaijan, Belarus, egypt, Georgia, israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco,

occupied palestinian Territory, the Russian Federation, syria, Tunisia, and ukraine.

The project aims to strengthen professional reporting standards and ethics among

journalists working for local media across the enpi region.

in 2012, the project provided trainings in ukraine, Jordan, egypt, Armenia, and Georgia, as

well as leading a Russian study tour to Brussels

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JouRnALisM eDuCATion«particants were motivated and attended the course with a passion.»

Trainer Ales patapenka

The first eHu multimedia journalism summer camp was held in september 201 2 for 1 6 eHu

students and young Belarusian journalists in Klaipeida, Lithuania.

The camp gave students the opportunity to learn practical multimedia skills useful for their

future careers as journalists. subjects included introduction to media communication with

a young audience, using social media, filming and editing, and writing about Belarusian

youth issues. The summer camp is an opportunity for the university to expand its

multimedia teaching to low residence students, as well as provide income to sustain its top

notch journalism teaching facility, the emediahub.

The camp was part of the eu Media education for Democracy programme to modernize

journalism education at the european Humanities university, the Belarusian university in

exile in Vilnius, Lithuania, which ran from April 2010-october 2012. The project resulted

in a radical overall of journalism education for Belarusian students at the eHu and the

establishment of the emediahub, a top notch multimedia journalism education facility. The

project was supported by the european union.

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•Belarus

•poland

•Lithuania

•Georgia

•Lebanon

•Tajikistan

•Russia

•Armenia

•Algeria

•Azerbaijan

•egypt

•israel

•Jordan

•Libya

•Moldova

•Morocco

•ukraine

•syria

•Tunisia

•opT

ireX europe c o u n t r i e sin 2012 Where we’ve worked

2012 current project countries

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KeY FiGuRes 2012

countries reached through iReX europe’s programmes in 2012

2012Turnover

1.8Million €20

•Programmeexpenses•Generaladministrativeexpenses

ABouT ireX europeiReX europe assists in the development of nations and peoples by providing services,

programs, infrastructure and technologies that improve the quality of education,

strengthen independent media, foster pluralistic civil society development, and reduce

conflict.

2 0 1 2 iReX euRope pRoGRAMMe

Photo CreditsCover : Girl painting at somaliland Film Festival - Luigi Ceccon

page 2 : Hargeisa peace Caravan show - neil McCafferty

pages 5-6 : somaliland Film Festival pictures - Luigi Ceccon

page 8 : eHu Multimedia summer camp - Ales patapenka

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