ICC annual Outreach Report and related video are now available to the general public

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched its Outreach Report 2010 and related video, which presents the ICC Outreach Unit’s work from 1 October 2009 to 1 October 2010. The English-language version of this report, the video, and previous annual reports are available on the ICC website. A French translation of the 2010 report will be available soon.

The report was first launched by the ICC Registrar, Ms Silvana Arbia, and Outreach Unit officers at the Assembly of States Parties’ ninth session. In her opening address, Ms Arbia presented the report and summarized its scope and findings, including the outreach activities conducted and results achieved at the seat of the Court in The Hague, and in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), and Kenya, as well as in Chad and other countries where large groups of Sudanese populations are currently residing. The report also gives the contextual judicial and other factors influencing the work of the Outreach Unit, challenges faced along the way, and the plans for going forward.

Through the Outreach Unit, the Registry responded to a series of emerging challenges while maintaining its efforts to counter misconceptions, make proceedings accessible, and create realistic expectations among affected communities. For example, the Registry deployed an interdisciplinary team in Kenya before Pre-Trial Chamber I decided to grant the Prosecutor approval to investigate alleged crimes committed in the territory of that country in relation with the post-election violence of 2007 and 2008. In the DRC, timely explanations were provided to communities on the Trial Chamber’s decision to stay the proceedings in the case The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and the Prosecutor’s subsequent appeal against that decision.

During this reporting period, considerable efforts were also made to strengthen the Legal Outreach Programme in the context of the Female Counsel Campaign, launched in association with the International Bar Association (IBA), and aimed at increasing the number of female counsel representing defendants and victims before the Court.

In this period, in connection with the five situations with cases brought before the Court, the Outreach Unit organised a total of 422 interactive sessions targeting directly 46,499 people, of which 11,605 were women. Estimated audiences of nearly 70 million people were regularly exposed to Court information through local radio and television programmes. The majority (70 percent) of respondents to surveys conducted by the ICC among participants during these sessions, had realistic expectations about the scope of the work of the Court.

For further information please contact Ms Claudia Perdomo, Head of the Outreach Unit, at +31 (0)70 515 85 14 or +31 (0) 6 2522 11 77 or at [email protected]

You can also follow the Court’s activities on YouTube and Twitter.