Ololade Benson speaks on...
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About this Video
Country of Origin:
Nigeria
Interview Date:
October 23, 2008
Location:
Arusha, Tanzania
Interviewers:
Donald J. Horowitz
Robert Utter
Robert Utter
Videographer:
Nell Carden Grey
Timestamp:
38:05 - 41:27
Transcript
Donald J. Horowitz: Now during the course of this, you mentioned earlier and that I’m going to turn – we’re going to take a little break and I’m going to turn the rest of the interview over to my, my, my colleague – during the course of this you’ve mentioned that you’ve taken a bunch of courses.
Yeah.
DJH: And what, what courses and why have you done that?
I’ve done a lot of courses on gender, tran-, and then conflict transformation because when you look at what happened in Rwanda it was all about the war and the effects of the war. When you look at HIV/AIDS as well it’s like women suffer a lot, they’re most vulnerable in the society when war breaks out, they are raped. They have to go out to look for work and they’re raped and all that.
So I just thought that these things were interrelated. So I’ve done a lot of courses, courses on conflict management, conflict transformation, gender and conflict, peace and gender.
And the last one I did – then I did just one classroom course in June this year which was on HIV project management and administration, so that if I had – if somebody gave me a whole lot of money and I needed to manage a project I would know exactly what to do.
I don’t like dabbling into things. I don’t – I want to be comfortable with what I’m doing, you know. And even in the newsletters as well, whatever information I put there, I have to be sure that it’s correct. Those things are very, very important for me. I don’t like inventing things and I have to be able to defend anything I say or write. So I like doing things properly.
DJH: Is there – I want to come back to the court just for a minute and I’m sorry to jump around . . .
It’s okay.
DJH: . . . but in your work for the court, is there, are there places where you’ve been particularly proud or pa-, places, places where you’ve been maybe a little disappointed?
That’s a big question.
DJH: Yeah.
All in all I think I’m, I’m happy, it’s okay.
DJH: If, if, if there was going to be a court in the future . . .
Yeah.
DJH: . . . that they were going to start, hopefully we won’t need one but I wouldn’t bet on that at the moment. Would you have some suggestions as to what the designers of that court might do that would improve things?
They should have a budget for this kind of thing that I’m doing.
DJH: For, for, for helping people . . .
Yeah, for helping people, yeah, yeah.
DJH: . . . who are associated with, with the crimes . . .
Because I, yeah – because I know that the people, colleagues who worked in Angola said they had to come together as well to help the street children. They used to donate like $10 a month and hold parties for them and go out and see how they can help them, you know.
DJH: So you’re not the only person – I mean you’ve done a marvelous job but you’re not apparently the only person who’s decided they have to find a way to help some of the victims.
Yeah, some of the people, yeah. And I think the UN should be doing a bit more of that as well. I don’t know that they – I don’t know, for example, they have a gender officer in Rwanda. They have a gender officer here, but I think that there should be somebody on the ground there in Rwanda as well.
DJH: Okay. And, okay, any other suggestions for future tribunal designers?
My focus is just on, on my passion unfortunately.
DJH: Yeah, and that’s fine, that’s fine. Okay, okay.
I can’t – off the top of my head I can’t think of anything else, yeah.
DJH: All right.