With the rise of new information and communication technologies, advocacy campaigns in development have experienced a resurgence of video as an instrument to enrich outreach efforts and build bridges, to empower marginalised groups and rescue the culture and heritage of indigenous people, and to reach decision-makers – and ultimately change policies and laws. The use of “humanising” elements through film, such as the oral testimonies of individuals, allows practitioners to transport the realities and conditions of specific localities to audiences otherwise unable to experience them directly. The present study examines the mechanisms through which video advocacy reaches audiences, looking specifically at trade-offs and knock-on effects among key stakeholders, based upon the case study of the Our Voices Matter advocacy film. The video features oral testimonies of local women survivors of rape from the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is employed to campaign for justice for women victims of sexual violence and to mobilise social change to alter the role of women in the region. In light of the multifaceted nature of video advocacy use in development, the study utilises a composite of three analysis techniques, employing the collection and critical examination of information both qualitative and quantitative in nature: A content analysis of the case study, examining the narrative and semiotic elements used by the film’s producers, was designed to complement interviews with stakeholders of the campaign. An international survey of women was conducted to shine light on how vulnerable groups across the world relate to the video in question and evaluate the effectiveness of video advocacy. The composite discussion reveals insights into video advocacy conception, strategy, and implementation, with particular emphasis on stakeholder mapping, while underscoring the potential for trade-offs and knock-on effects among stakeholder groups. The case study also provides a theoretical and practical basis for similar communication for development campaigns.

This ethnographic dissertation study contains a total of six chapters. Chapter One provides an introduction to the topic, Perspectives of Saskatchewan Dakota/Lakota Elders on the Treaty Process within Canada. It also discusses the following: the purpose of the study; the rationale & justification for an interdisciplinary approach; the research methodology; the definition of terms; the limitations of the study; assumptions; and the ethical protocols applicable to this study. Chapter Two provides a review of literature pertaining to the various theoretical and methodological considerations to be addressed within this study. These include the traditional Rankean approach to the study of history; that termed within Western academia as Oral History, combined with that termed as Oral Tradition; that termed as Dakota Oral Tradition; and that termed within Western academia as Outsider vs. Insider Research. Chapter Three provides a review of the history of the treaty negotiation processes that occurred both in the United States and Canada and concludes with an analysis of research findings to date. Chapter Four reviews previously written documentation pertaining to the Dakota/Lakota treaty negotiation process within Canada and concludes with an analysis of research findings to date. Chapter Five discusses in detail the data collection process employed for this study. In addition, the data generated from the interviews with the Saskatchewan Dakota/Lakota Elders regarding their perspectives on treaty are presented. Chapter Six provides a synthesis and analysis of research findings for the data collected from the Saskatchewan Dakota/Lakota Elders during the interview process. In addition, an epilogue is provided regarding the implications of the research for the treaty negotiation process of the Dakota/Lakota people within Canada. In this way the findings of the study are placed within the context of the Native-White treaty relationship currently evolving and being negotiated within the province of Saskatchewan. Recommendations are also presented to assist and enhance the contemporary political and legal position of the Dakota/Lakota First Nations within Saskatchewan in their efforts to either sign adhesion to the Numbered Treaties, or to adhere to an alternate treaty protocol agreement with the Canadian federal government, which would include provisions regarding land, as well as related treaty benefits and annuities.

This ethnographic dissertation study contains a total of six chapters. Chapter One provides an introduction to the topic, Perspectives of Saskatchewan Dakota/Lakota Elders on the Treaty Process within Canada. It also discusses the following: the purpose of the study; the rationale & justification for an interdisciplinary approach; the research methodology; the definition of terms; the limitations of the study; assumptions; and the ethical protocols applicable to this study. Chapter Two provides a review of literature pertaining to the various theoretical and methodological considerations to be addressed within this study. These include the traditional Rankean approach to the study of history; that termed within Western academia as Oral History, combined with that termed as Oral Tradition; that termed as Dakota Oral Tradition; and that termed within Western academia as Outsider vs. Insider Research. Chapter Three provides a review of the history of the treaty negotiation processes that occurred both in the United States and Canada and concludes with an analysis of research findings to date. Chapter Four reviews previously written documentation pertaining to the Dakota/Lakota treaty negotiation process within Canada and concludes with an analysis of research findings to date. Chapter Five discusses in detail the data collection process employed for this study. In addition, the data generated from the interviews with the Saskatchewan Dakota/Lakota Elders regarding their perspectives on treaty are presented. Chapter Six provides a synthesis and analysis of research findings for the data collected from the Saskatchewan Dakota/Lakota Elders during the interview process. In addition, an epilogue is provided regarding the implications of the research for the treaty negotiation process of the Dakota/Lakota people within Canada. In this way the findings of the study are placed within the context of the Native-White treaty relationship currently evolving and being negotiated within the province of Saskatchewan. Recommendations are also presented to assist and enhance the contemporary political and legal position of the Dakota/Lakota First Nations within Saskatchewan in their efforts to either sign adhesion to the Numbered Treaties, or to adhere to an alternate treaty protocol agreement with the Canadian federal government, which would include provisions regarding land, as well as related treaty benefits and annuities.

Le témoignage oral, depuis toujours, occupe, en tant qu'élément de preuve, une place au sein de la procédure pénale française. Pourtant, il n'a cessé de faire l'objet de critiques, ravivées par l'émergence de la preuve scientifique dans le procès pénal contemporain, car considéré comme faillible en raison de sa nature humaine. Cette affirmation repose, notamment, sur un postulat anachronique consistant à considérer le témoignage oral comme unitaire, au travers du seul prisme de sa source, l'homme, cantonné au seul témoin, tel que défini par les règles de procédure, alors qu'il présente en réalité un caractère dual. Or, c'est de cette méconnaissance, conduisant à une appréhension attentatoire à la valeur probatoire du témoignage oral, qu'émergent les objections à son encontre et qui soulèvent la question de sa nécessité dans le procès pénal, quand cette dernière ne devrait souffrir aucune hésitation, non seulement parce que le témoignage oral s'avère un élément de preuve utile à la recherche et à l'établissement de la vérité judiciaire mais également parce qu'il illustre et renforce les principes directeurs du procès pénal, tels qu'édictés par le législateur français et la Convention européenne des Droits de l'Homme. / Oral testimony has always been taken up as an element of evidence in the French criminal proceedings. However considered as unreliable because human, it hasn't ceased to be the subject of critics, lately revived with the emergence of scientific proof within contemporary penal trial. This statement is based on the anachronistic postulate that oral testimony, considered through the only view of the witness as defined by the procedural rules, is unity, whereas indeed it does present a dual character. The probationary value of oral testimony is suffering from this lack or recognition and its necessity within criminal procedure is also being questioned when there should be no hesitation whatsoever with regard to its use. In fact, oral testimony is not just a useful element of proof when trying to establish the truth, it does also illustrate and strengthen the governing principles of penal trial such as promulgated by the French legislator and the European convention of Human Rights.