According to the organisers, the show was conceived after a IWPR-NL project team met local journalists and editors in the DRC in 2007. They found that independent and balanced reporting on sensitive issues such as war crimes was lacking and that radio was an effective means of disseminating such reports. Facing Justice draws content from IWPR-trained journalists in DRC, staff at IWPR-NL, legal experts, civil society, political analysts, human rights activists, and government representatives. According to the producers, the aim of the programme is to help Congolese citizens understand and contextualise the role of international justice in their country by providing them access to a broad range of voices knowledgeable on questions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the challenges that the DRC justice system faces.

Broadcast in French, Lingala, and Swahili, Facing Justice goes out twice a month on community radio stations around the country. Click here to listen to the programmes online.

Democracy and Governance, Conflict

SFCG hosted two focus groups – one for young people and another for adults – to gauge reaction to the programme. According to the SFCG, in the younger group, all ten participants described the show as either good or very good. They complimented its unique format and said it provides better information than other justice-related programme about the ICC and the concept of justice. Amongst the adults, all ten said the programme was of a high quality and they appreciated that it includes local voices in each broadcast.