Social Norms
Social norms action with informed and engaged societies
Social Norms
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Published 26 years ago
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IEC Campaign & the 1996 Genocide Law - Rwanda

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A USAID-funded project in Rwanda which focuses on increasing the overall technical competency of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to conduct effective Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaigns on selected justice issues. The intended result is a greater understanding of the Genocide Law of September 1996, with particular emphasis on implementation of its plea bargaining component.
Communication Strategies

Focused on educating the detainee population and the public to use plea bargaining in order to lessen the case backlog.
Development Issues

Political development, rights
Key Points

The MOJ has already mounted a campaign to inform Rwandans about the organic law for prosecution of genocide offences and crimes against humanity, and on the functioning of the judicial system. However, a UN report concluded that it neither led to more people confessing to genocide crimes nor to a better general understanding of what "rule of law" means. There was little public awareness of the justice campaign. Furthermore, the very high detainee case load of over 120,000 people (1998 figures) expected to go to trial or be released requires urgent intervention to ensure that there is broad understanding of the new law and its procedures, particularly the confession programme. Thus, the public will be educated about the law's plea bargain section and the detainees will be encouraged to participate in the plea bargain, resulting in a decrease in the case load.
Partners



USAID & Ministry of Justice in Rwanda.

Sources

Letter to The Communication Initiative from Tamara Mitchell, Assistant Project Administrator.