PaCSIA is proud to present the documentary Wokabaut Senis, which showcases the work of our Bougainville Transition Dialogues project.
The Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea was ravaged by terrible violent conflict in the 1990s. This was followed by a successful process of peacebuilding, with a Peace Agreement in 2001 and a Referendum on independence (separation from Papua New Guinea) in 2019. In the referendum, 97.7 per cent of Bougainvilleans voted for independence. This is a clear indication of what Bougainvilleans want. Now communities all over Bougainville are discussing about the transition to a peaceful future.
Starting in 2019, the Bougainville Transition Dialogues Facilitators – a group of more than 130 Bougainvillean peacebuilders – the Autonomous Bougainville Government, the Bougainville Christian Churches Association, PaCSIA and the UN (UNDP, UNFPA, and UN Women) partnered to engage communities at the grassroots in preparation for the referendum and the post-referendum transition period. Communities were provided with information compiled by the two governments and given the opportunity to share their questions, thoughts, concerns and ideas regarding the referendum and the future of Bougainville. The transition dialogues were accompanied by the participatory video project Wokabaut Senis (Walkabout for Change) which created short videos from all over Bougainville. This film provides a summary of the work up until early 2020.
The documentary was produced by PaCSIA consultant Leanne Simon. We acknowledge the generous funding from UNDP Papua New Guinea under the Sustaining Peace in Bougainville Project and the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
