REGULARS
Regulars 21
I N T E R V I E W
THE WANDERER
with w e i v r e Int ler, y T n a D cy Advoca C R I r o f r Adviso rris a H e i h by Sop ooke C a i t i et and La The young woman in this photograph, Koffy Afa, is pregnant and has been abandoned by her boyfriend. Perhaps her feelKoffy Afa ings of rejection and loneliness are something that most of us can relate to. However, her situation is far more worrying. Not only has she been abandoned by her boyfriend but both her parents are dead and she is anxious for her survival. Unfortunately she is not alone. This photo was taken as part of a collaboration between the International Rescue Committee (IRC) UK and the American photographer and women‟s rights activist Ann Jones. A Global Crescendo: Women‟s Voices from Conflict Zones is an ongoing project which aims to give a voice to women in conflict zones, from Sierra Leone to the Cote d'Ivoire. The women were given digital cameras and asked to record their everyday struggles. It is a moving collection of photos which depicts the women‟s battle for independence within a largely patriarchal society. Dan Tyler, advocacy advisor for IRC, spoke to us about the impressive work that he and the charity do to help women within conflict zones . Given that, even in our own culture, violence against women remains a taboo topic, we wondered how IRC begins to tackle this commonly silenced subject. “That is the challenge” agreed Tyler. “One thing to remember is that culture isn‟t static. All the work that IRC does, from healthcare to long-term counselling for women, is community driven.” IRC does not impose any fixed solutions. Instead, the charity attempts to establish firm relationships with local people. “We don‟t preach or try and change local culture on moral grounds”, said Tyler. Furthermore, IRC recognises that in order to help the women within these communities it also needs to appeal to the men. For this reason, Tyler explained how the charity might approach the issue from a health or economic perspective, which would resonate with men as well as women. The enormity of such a task could seem overwhelming. Tyler told us how IRC copes with the bigger picture. “IRC works on two levels. For example, in the DR Congo we have both international and national staff. 98% of the staff is national”. This means that there are representatives of the charity already working on the ground, within the communities. “When there was an eruption of fighting in