NGO video production in Rwanda: field documentation and consent

Many NGOs film a lot and use little. Clips sit on phones and hard drives with no names, no dates and no record of who agreed to what. Two years later, a donor asks for a video and nobody knows which footage is safe to use.

Planned NGO video production in Rwanda treats field footage as an asset, like financial records. It decides what to film across the life of a programme, captures it steadily, and keeps the consent and context with every clip. This guide covers that system. For how to explain consent to a person on the day, see our guide to informed consent, and for training staff to gather stories, see our other field guides.

Link your filming to the programme cycle, not only to deadlines for reports.

• Baseline. Places, conditions and people at the start, filmed with permission, so you can show change later.
• Activities. Trainings, distributions, community meetings and construction, filmed as they happen.
• Milestones. Openings, handovers and graduations.
• Voices. Short interviews with participants, staff and local leaders at several points.
• Endline. The same places and, where they agree, the same people, filmed again.

Agree a simple shot list for each stage. Brief local authorities and partners in advance, as is good practice in Rwanda, and check any permits needed for professional crews or sensitive sites.

Decide who films what. Programme staff can capture everyday activities on a phone, following the same rules. A professional crew is worth bringing in for milestones, key interviews and the baseline and endline, where quality and consistency matter most. Mixing the two keeps costs sensible without losing the moments that matter.

Consent conversations happen in the field. Consent records must survive in the office. Plan both.

• Explain the purpose, the planned uses, including publication, and the right to say no, in Kinyarwanda or the person's preferred language. WHO guidance for its photographers and film crews says informed consent means the person understands the purpose and planned use of the images, including publication.¹
• Record consent in writing, or on camera when writing is not suitable; the same WHO guidance allows signed forms or recorded verbal consent.¹ Note who explained it and who witnessed it.
• Give each consent record a reference number. Put that number in the file name or log of every clip featuring the person.
• Record the limits: for example, internal use only, no face, first name only, or not for social media.
• For children, WHO guidance says written or videotaped consent should come from the parent or guardian, that children should take part in decisions affecting them as far as possible, and that the best interest of the child must always be paramount.¹ Explain the purpose to the child in words they understand and respect a child who does not want to be filmed.
• Where a person could face stigma, reprisal or rejection if recognised, film them so they cannot be identified and keep their identity confidential, as the WHO guidance advises.¹

WITNESS, which supports people using video for human rights, asks those using footage to consider consent, intended audience, and the safety, dignity and privacy of the individuals and communities filmed.² The Dóchas Guide to Ethical Communications, launched in 2023, rests on respect for the dignity of the people concerned and makes consent a central tenet, so that people keep control over their own story.³

Video of an identifiable person is personal data. Rwanda's Law No. 058/2021 of 13/10/2021 relating to the protection of personal data and privacy defines personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.⁴ Under the law:

• consent must be a freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the person's wishes; it can be oral, written or electronic, but you must be able to show it was given for a specified purpose;⁴
• people have the right to withdraw consent at any time, and withdrawing must be as easy as giving it;⁴
• for a child under 16, consent must come from a holder of parental responsibility.⁴

The law also treats some information as sensitive, including health status, medical records, religious beliefs and family details.⁴ Footage of a clinic, a support group or a household can reveal exactly that. Handle it with extra care.

The National Cyber Security Authority (NCSA) supervises the law, and public and private institutions have been asked to register with it as data controllers, data processors or both.⁵ Check your organisation's registration status with your legal or data protection lead.

For content shared online, Rwanda's Ministerial Instructions on Child Online Protection of January 2024 ask social media users to refrain from creating and publishing children's images or videos for entertainment or commercial purposes, and state that the consent of a holder of parental responsibility must be obtained.⁶ Agree with your safeguarding lead how this applies to programme content.

A simple, consistent system beats an expensive one nobody uses.

• Name files with the date, district, activity and consent references.
• Keep a log in a shared spreadsheet: who filmed, where, who appears, consent limits and any safety concerns.
• Copy footage off phones and cards within days, to at least two places, one of them secure and backed up.
• Restrict access to sensitive footage to the people who need it.
• Delete footage you will not use and have no reason to keep, in line with your data policy.
• Record the location carefully. For vulnerable people, avoid sharing exact locations publicly.

In our own practice, the log matters more than the camera. A well-logged phone clip is often more useful than unlabelled footage from expensive equipment.

Copy this checklist into your programme plan.

• Documentation plan linked to baseline, activities, milestones and endline.
• Shot list per stage, agreed with programme staff.
• Local authorities and partners informed; permits checked where needed.
• Consent script and form translated into Kinyarwanda.
• Consent reference numbers issued and linked to every clip.
• Use limits recorded for each person, including anonymity requests.
• Parent or guardian consent for every child filmed, plus the child's own understanding and agreement; the data law requires parental consent under 16, and your safeguarding policy may set a higher age.
• Footage copied off devices within days to two secure locations.
• Footage log updated after each field visit.
• Access to sensitive footage restricted.
• Data protection lead consulted on registration and retention.
• Review date set for old footage before reuse.

Footage outlives the moment it was filmed. A young woman filmed at a training may now be a business owner who prefers not to be shown as a beneficiary. A family may have moved, or their situation may have changed.

• Check the consent record and its limits before every new use.
• Ask whether the new use is the kind of purpose the person agreed to.
• For sensitive stories, contact the person again if you can.
• Remove anyone who has withdrawn consent, and keep a record that you did.

Handled this way, field footage becomes a trusted archive of your work, and the people in it remain partners in the story rather than images in a folder.