IGIHE

Author: IGIHE

  • Rwanda secures Rwf 120 billion funding from Belgium

    The new cooperation program worth 120 million Euros will cover the period 2019-2024 and intervene mainly in three sectors: Health (€45.000.000), Agriculture (€30.000.000) and Urbanization (€28.000.000).

    The program will concentrate on better access to sexual and reproductive rights and health.
    In addition, attention will be devoted to the improvement of value chains in agriculture, the commercialization of agricultural products and sustainable urbanization; public finance management is the fourth priority.

    With regard to health and agriculture, the program will be piloting a new aid instrument: Results-Based Aid (RBA). In RBA the donor contribution is released to MINECOFIN after verifying that the agreed sectorial targets have been achieved.

    Speaking after the signing event, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana hailed the contribution of the bilateral to achieving Rwanda’s sustainable development objectives.

    “The Government of Rwanda regards health, agriculture, and urbanization as critical sectors that have a significant impact on Rwanda’s development outcomes as articulated in our National Strategy for Transformation. Therefore, Belgian support in these sectors is a step forward in realizing the targeted achievements,” Minister Ndagijimana said.

    The Ambassador of Belgium in Rwanda, Benoit Ryelandt said the signing of this agreement is a sign of the special relations between the two countries.

    “This country program is the result of a year of intensive preparations and discussions between Belgium and Rwanda, to define the priority sectors and the objectives, aspired results, and implementation modalities in each sector. The specific agreement signed today gives also the start to the first bilateral program between our two countries, were no longer any tax exemptions are requested,” he said.

    “This commitment not to request tax exonerations is in line with the ambition to support improved local revenue collection and underlines the importance of the support the program includes to the further development of the Public Finance Management (PFM) in Rwanda through the PFM multi-donor fund,” affirmed Benoit.

    The program was developed by the Belgian Development Agency, Enabel in close collaboration with different Rwandan ministries.

    Implementation will be assured mainly through Rwandan government institutions in coordination with Enabel.

    The funding follows the previous one worth 160 million Euros which Belgium gave to Rwanda in 2011. It was used in health, energy, and agriculture among other sectors.

    The Government of Rwanda, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and the Kingdom of Belgium through the Belgian Embassy in Rwanda, have today signed a cooperation agreement that will focus on health, agriculture and sustainable urbanization

  • Romania: Realizing Peace Starts from Peace Education

    With the title of ‘The role of teachers for peace education’, 2019 Peace Education Conference was an event that presented the progress of the peace curriculum customized for European background and the direction of developing a culture of peace backed by international law for peace.

    {{Planting the value of peace to the students, Peace Education
    }}

    “This is a very complex subject. But just like all journey starts with a first step, raising the awareness of peace should be done for the most basic level. Through this education, children understood that they have the power to do good acts on their level. They can actually change their lives and the lives of their family in the future. I try to make them see the importance of the value of respect, helping others, and tolerance that create better students as righteous adults,” said Mr. Dumitru Marius-Gabriel, a teacher of 1 Mai Technical High-school of Ploiesti, who has operated the peace education.

    “Working with HWPL for this project brought me much joy and fulfillment because I could blend my normal lessons with the message of peace. I realized how important it is for us, teachers, to become a role model of our students. I’d like to add this peace education exists to create a peaceful world for future generation to cease all wars. Furthermore, this education should spread not only to our students but to all the students everywhere. They are the future of our peace,” he added.

    One of the distinguishing aspects of this education was the collaboration between a local organization and an international NGO to proceed with the curriculum. The teachers belong to Master Peace, a local Romanian youth group, have carried out peace education. And the curriculum and materials for peace education were provided by an international peace NGO called HWPL.

    According to the official of HWPL, the peace education is designed with the aim of to leave peace as a legacy to the future generations by raising the awareness of the importance of realizing peace and fostering a culture of peace. It recently provides the books, which contains the worldwide peace activities and peace agreements that HWPL has carried out, to the schools and libraries to encourage every citizen to participate in peace work.

    As a part of peace initiatives, more than 200 educational institutions in 21 countries including Romania, Republic of South Africa, India, Israel, Kosovo, the Philippines are designated as HWPL Peace Academies to train the educators and students with the value of peace beyond boundaries, races, and religions.

    Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL said: “As you can see the name of our organization, “Heavenly Culture” refers to the highest culture from heaven above worldly cultures that can realize peace by harmonizing all the people in the world. Even if you are born in a family or in a country with great wealth, you may feel infernal when there’s no peace in your family or your country. The first start is important, so peace education should start with the family, and then to the schools and society. Everything you see, hear, feel, and learn should be engaged with peace education. We can call it practical peace education. And it starts with the mindset that we can achieve peace. HWPL aims to create a world like this.

    That’s the reason why we designed the peace materials and textbooks under several times of advice so that we send the materials to every educational institute to help encourage peace education.”

    Since last year, Romanian schools and organizations including Comuna Sottile College, 1 Mai Technical High-school of Ploiesti, and Master Peace have signed MOUs for further participation-based peace education and activities that customized for European culture using the peace materials provided by HWPL

    {{Spreading a culture of peace with peace education yet needs a legally binding international framework for peace.
    }}

    “What HWPL is proposing is the new way of seeing topics such as anti-bullying, non-violent communication, and collaborative activities that are the very important currency in the Romanian educational system. The HWPL peace curriculum emphasizes the value of tolerance, care, social equality, peace, justice, cooperation, solidarity, and human right that can create a culture of peace. It helps us define peace and its value that would lead the students to the leaders of peace. I’d also like to stress that the students should be peace messengers and work for realizing peace with this systematic peace education.” Magellan Isabel, a student of Mihai Viteazu National College, expressed her impression of the HWPL peace education.

    Mr. Dragomir Marian, President of Master Peace, said “My belief, that made me work with HWPL with its peace education curriculum, is that education in personality, skill, value, and attitude is important for social, economic, and political development in any country. This role is well articulated in the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” No. 4 containing a quality education for all to promote lifelong learning. This is also shared by article 10,

    “Spreading a culture of peace”, in the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) which mentions that education is important to promote respect and mutual understanding among different religions, ideologies, and ethnic groups.”

    The DPCW consisting of 10 articles and 38 clauses addresses principles of conflict resolution and international cooperation for peacebuilding such as respect on the international law, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace. Currently, it is in the process of submitting this declaration as a resolution to the UN in order to develop it into a legally binding document, while citizens around the world are supporting it by participating “Peace Letter Campaign”.

    “Articles 1 to 5 of the DPCW deal with preventing conflicts, articles 6 and 7 are about resolving conflicts, and articles 8 to 10 present the measures for the sustainable peaceful global society. This declaration is different from existing clauses of international law because it offers a comprehensive solution and compassing principles for conflict resolution according to the international order,” said Mr. Young Min Chung, Director of the IPYG.

    “The future is counting on us to complete the world of peace. Let’s take what we’ve learned from the peace education and put it into our lives as peaceful citizens. World peace can be achieved with the DPCW that will lay the foundation of international law toward world peace. I invite you all to join the “Peace Letter Campaign”.” He urged for the participation for establishing a legally binding international framework for peace based on the DPCW.

    The conference held in April 2nd was hosted by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an international NGO under UN ECOSOC, organized by Master Peace, a youth group of Romania, and sponsored by International Peace Youth Group (IPYG).

    Participants shouting out 'We Are One' at the Peace Education Conference

  • Religious Leaders’ Peace Network review Religion’s Nature through Comparative Studies on Scriptures

    Far from this “faith”, the issue of religion rises to the surface again, creating new phenomena. While traditional roles of Christianity has diminished in the United States and Europe, the void is filled by increasing the presence of new religion through the migration of people with different religious orientations. Also, governance and social integration have been carried out with the influence of religion in Asian and African countries. Since the 9/11, the rise of extremism and terrorism or such acts of violence in the name of religion persisted. These events have brought the issue of religion to surface both positively and negatively. In order to cope with the latest trend of religion, international society and religion have created platforms and dialogue in search of new roles religion plays in realization of peace, justice, and stability.

    {{An interfaith dialogue begins the restoration of the fundamentals of religion
    }}

    In these contemporary days, religion is considered as the main factor affecting the conflicts in the world. Scholars say that violent acts of extremism have the basis on the misinterpretation of religious scripture as a means to mobilize the public and incite anger in the mass number of people.

    Imam Anas Hajjar, Head Imam of Finland Islam Community, pays a closer attention to religious scripture and points out that “Because many people interpret the scripture with their own thoughts and ideologies without correctly knowing what is the will of God inside the scripture, and if laymen continue to interpret without true knowledge and study, the problems caused by extremists will continue to occur.”.

    There’s a rising voice calling for religious leaders to take a strong stand in restoring the true value of religion to lead humanity into a just and peaceful path, rather than leaning toward any forms of extremisms through misinterpretation.

    “Terrorism, sectarian violence, and religious conflicts have deprived us of basic human rights, resulting in people under pains that go beyond description. The love and tolerance of love have disappeared in the communities. Selfishness, lack of acceptance of the other and the absence of a culture of tolerance and human values have made the communication even more difficult. However, religion does call for peace among peoples. The seed of peace is possible with this desire and with this longing to change the world,” said Mr. Tharwat Gaid Salama Gaballa, Chairman of Horus foundation for developing and training in Egypt.

    {{The role of leaders in reflecting on religion through scripture to discourage religion as means of violent conflicts
    }}

    “The common objectives that all religious scriptures pursue are the realization of peace and justice, conflict resolution, human dignity, and valuing diversity. Thus, along with the diverse backgrounds and various factors that cause conflicts, we approach towards the root cause of this hospitality among beliefs, which we define as the misunderstandings that arise from the misinterpretation of these scriptures,” Mr. Gaballa added.

    Regarding the role of religious leaders, Imam Anas Hajjar, Head Imam of Finland Islam Community emphasized, “Although political extremism and the hate-speech have been in the rise in Europe, NGOs have a critical role in resisting and opposing this type of breakdown in respect of the laws of religious freedom, peace, and harmony in the country. The best way to combat all types of extremism is knowledge and this part of the job is given to scholars and religious leaders.”

    “In order to find the truth all the humanity wants religious leaders to need to put away the thoughts that only my religion is the best and do the comparative work based on Scriptures without dividing themselves and saying ‘your religion’, ‘my religion’,” said Swami Veetamohananda, Swami (religious leader in Hinduism) of Ramakrishna Veda center.

    {{A Platform for Comparative Studies on Religious Scripture – World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Office}}

    From April 1st to 2nd, an international conference named “The Role of Cultural Diplomacy in Approaching the Protracted Conflicts” was held in Romania as the presidency of the European Union by a Romanian think tank Institute of Advanced Studies on Levant Culture and Civilization (ISACCL) in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Romania, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), University of Bucharest, and Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Global Ethics.

    In the conference,
    the role of NGOs and civil societies in developing peace was included to discuss transforming religion from means of violent conflicts to the source of peace.

    “The culture of earth cannot disguise the one of heaven with a man’s yardstick of judgment. Religion is to learn the world of spirit and teachings of God. This is the heavenly culture that guides us to the world of peace. Through the WARP offices, religious leaders have brought religious scriptures to examine trustworthy, physical evidence of religion. In search of the true teachings written in trustworthy scripture, religions should be one under the true teachings. When we continue to do these comparative studies, there will be no more wars triggered by religion,” said Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairman of HWPL.

    A platform for religious leaders as a new attempt to establish a network of peace to enhance understanding of religions through scriptures has been carried out 220 locations from 130 countries. Named “World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Office”, this platform since 2014 is designed by HWPL, an international NGO under the UN ECOSOC, to find the nature of religious values for peacebuilding through scriptures. HWPL has its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea and seeks the role of religion in conflict resolution and prevention through the network of global religious leaders.

    Oliver Kang, pastor and international missionary of the Evangelical Worldwide Mission Church, said, “Therefore, if we want peace between religions, if we want no more wars, then religions need to turn away from the path of corruption. That is why we are comparing the religious scriptures through the WARP Office meetings. Discussions based on comparing the scriptures is the optimal solution to resolve the problem of corruption.”

    “The WARP office is the significant link and the great network for the worldwide religious institutions. It has come to show the cooperation and solidarity of all religious leaders and send the message of tolerance, peace, and unity to all people around the world,” said Mr. Gaballa regarding the function of the WARP office.

    According to HWPL, this religious network of peace further is further developed to appeal to young generations to build the confidence of religion through communication and understanding. “Various religious teaching program for youth such as religious youth peace camp gives lesson for participants to learn about the general history of world religions, find the root cause of and plausible resolutions to religious conflicts and disputes, examine the religious community’s roles for peace, and experience cultural exchanges,” said Dr. Ahmed Jasem Hmood Al-Maliky, Sheikh of Office of the Religious Reference Sheikh Mohammad Al Yaqoobi in Iraq.

    “Starting by taking out the prejudice that I am right and you are wrong, let us communicate and interact with each other with these questions in mind: ‘Is what I know always right? Is the other religion always wrong? Or is there something in that religion that mine doesn’t have?’ Let us find the best truth and achieve the ultimate value of peace,” he added.

  • President Kagame receives peace award

    The award was handed to Rwanda’s ambassador to Egypt, Sheikh Habimana Saleh during the closing ceremony of the International Festival for Drums & Traditional Arts on 27th April 2019.

    The festival organized for the 7th time was held in different places including Saladin Citadel building in Cairo between 20-27th April 2019.

    It attracted over 15,000 participants from different countries including Poland, Nigeria, Greece, Egypt, Mexico, Jordanie, Colombie, Armenia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Burundi, India, Saudi Arabia, Guinée Conakry, Sénégal, China, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sunda, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Palestine.

    President Kagame was honored for his contribution to African Union Chairmanship in 2018.

    During his President Kagame’s African Union chairmanship in 2018, the organization attained several achievements including the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) signed in Kigali in March 2018 that was ratified by 44 countries at the outset.
    In November 2018, Kagame launched Africa Peace Fund with initial savings of USD $ 60 million and expected to reach $400 million by the year 2021, and possibly end decades of Africa’s dependence on external sources to maintain its own peace and security.

    The award granted to president Kagame was signed by Egypt Sports Minister Dr. Enas Abdeldayem and artiste, Intesar Abdel-Fattah who launched the festival in 2012.

  • World Citizens: Participating Cultural Diplomacy Suggested as a New Solution for Peace

    It was hosted by the Institute of Advanced Studies on Levant Culture and Civilization (ISACCL) in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Romania, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), Center for BBS, University of Bucharest, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA), Romanian Foundation for Democracy – FRD, and Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Global Ethics.
    Starting with the inaugural session at Plenary Hall of the Romanian Senate, the conference held with the title of “The Role of Cultural Diplomacy in Approaching the Protracted Conflicts: Culture of Peace through Understanding the Other”.

    The 2 days event included 6 sessions such as Interreligious Dialogue – Instrument of Cultural Diplomacy; Western Balkans; 6th Baltic-Black Sea Forum; Korean Peninsula – Prospects for Reconciliation and Peaceful Reunification; Levant Initiative for Global Peace; Perspectives of Cultural Diplomacy in Conflict Areas: Practices, Instruments, Projects.

    {{Interreligious dialogue contributing to peace through the possibility of expanding cultural diplomacy
    }}

    On April 1, about 80 religious leaders from Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Romanian Orthodox, Catholic, and Bahaism gathered in a religious peace forum in the theme of “The Role of Religion for Global Peace”.

    Mr. Shin Chang Kim, the General Director of the Department of International Relations of HWPL, said, “Religion has the greatest influence than any other cultural elements. Not only does it establish a mental foundation in people, but it brings about changes in their behavioral patterns. When cultural diplomacy actively develops through religion, realizing peace and harmony can be advanced.”

    The WARP Office that has been carried out in 128 countries to strengthen the communication among religious leaders based on mutual respect and open dialogue was introduced as a new platform for religious cultural diplomacy.

    Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL said, “If we cannot understand the significance in religious scripture that contains the essence of religion, religions will not serve as a good example of virtue to humanity. The first duty as a religious leader is to understand the true meaning of religion. That is why religious leaders should gather in the interfaith dialogue meeting, the WARP Office, to discuss based on the religious scriptures.”

    Imam Amir Aziz from Islam of Ahmadiyya-Moschee in Wilmersdorf, Berlin stated in his speech that the WARP Office is “a phenomenal instrument as a new approach to peacebuilding by religion.” “The religious scripture comparison held in WARP Office is an unprecedented type of discussion based on the standard of a trustworthy scripture. And I am convinced that it will unite us as one,” he added.

    {{Expanding support from the international community for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula
    }}

    On April 2, a forum for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula was held in the Royal Palace of Bucharest in attendance with five former heads of state from Eastern European countries, peace activists in Europe and Asia, heads of human rights organization, and journalists.

    As the issue of security in the Korean Peninsula has been considered as an influence on global peace agenda, the participants discussed the peaceful measure for inter-Korean reconciliation by expanding the support and cooperation from the international community.

    Mr. Nicolai Sprekels, President of SARAM (meaning “people” in Korean), a human rights organization for North Korea, said, “Peace that requires a sacrifice of humanity is only assumed as half peace. Peace doesn’t only refer to the unarmed state, but it is perfectly accomplished when it is consistently kept. Currently, the situation of North Korean human rights is getting worse. As an NGO in Europe, we will keep supporting the unification between the two Koreas.”

    Hon. Emil Constantinescu, Former President of Romania, suggested the direction in peacebuilding on the Korean peninsula by saying, “It is necessary to have political and military cooperation based on the mutual trust for the unification. If we plan with the foundation of the precedents of Eastern Europe’s transition from communism to democracy, along with international exchange, it will be of great help for us to establish worldwide governance that the whole world needs.”

    {{Gathering support for peace-building international law as a foundation of international regulation for world peace
    }}

    On April 2, the session, “Levant Initiative for Global Peace”, was held to discuss the establishment of an international norm for peace. The agenda of the session was based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) consisting of 10 articles and 38 clauses that address the fundamental principles such as the prohibition of the use of force, peaceful dispute settlement, freedom of religion, and spreading a culture of peace.

    It has been supported by Seychelles, eSwatini, and Comoros at the governmental level as well as the inter-governmental organizations such as PARLACEN (Central American Parliament), PAP (Pan-African Parliament), and Centre for BBS (International Centre for Black Sea-Baltic Studies and Consensus Practices).

    Former presidents and political figures of Europe who participated in the event agreed to urge for the national support to present the DPCW to the United Nations Assembly as a resolution.

    According to the official of HWPL, the support from citizens including women and youth from more than 170 countries that build a massive network to urge national leaders for peace has been driving the peace-building initiatives of HWPL.

    {{Cultivating citizens of peace through peace education
    }}

    On April 2, ‘2019 Peace Education Conference’ was hosted by HWPL, organized by Master Peace, Youth Group of Romania, and sponsored by the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG).

    Starting from the schools and teachers of Master Peace, the peace education with the materials and curriculum suggested by HWPL has been carried out in the European countries.

    Mr. Dragomir Marian, President of Master Peace, presented the progress report of the peace education program. “Through Peace Education over 5 terms, we have educated children how to prevent and resolve conflicts and violence. Peace exists in the context of family, fellow groups, and societies. Through education, we have realized that teaching the principles of peace in the early stage of life can transform the youth to embrace peace.”

    In response, Chairman Man-Hee Lee of HWPL said, “Likewise, who must be the teachers to the children in the world? It is family. It is neighbors. And it is society. It is never too late to start doing the work of peace for a peaceful world.”

    ‘Peace Education’, one of HWPL’s core initiatives, is aimed to leave peace as a legacy to the future generations by implanting the value of peace to children. To spread a culture of peace by peace education, HWPL has signed MOUs with 208 education institutes in 21 countries as HWPL Peace Academies.

    ISACCL, known as Romania’s Think Tank, and HWPL agreed to continue their cooperative relationship to build peace network through cultural diplomacy such as peace campaign and peace education.

  • RIB received 447 genocide ideology cases in one year

    RIB report indicates that genocide ideology cases decreased overtime considering the reduction of similar cases to 447 between April 2018 and April 2019 from 505 received between April 2017 and April 2018.

    Twagirayezu explained that the majority of genocide ideology suspects are over 30 years old, born before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

    Article 4 of the law relating to the punishment of the crime of genocide ideology and related crimes states that genocide ideology is an aggregate of thoughts characterized by conduct, speeches, documents and other acts aiming at exterminating or inciting others to exterminate people basing on ethnic group, origin, nationality, region, color, physical appearance, sex, language, religion or political opinion, committed in normal periods or during war.

    If convicted the person is liable to imprisonment of five to seven years and a fine of Rwf 500,000 to Rwf 1 million.

  • President Kagame calls for enforcement of laws to deter cyber-crime

    He made the call yesterday as he co-chaired the Annual Broadband Commission meeting hosted by Facebook at their Headquarters in San Francisco city of California State.

    The meeting was also attended by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao and the Vice-President for Mobile and Global Access Policy at Facebook, Kevin Martin.

    President Kagame said the sessions go straight to the heart of our priorities of the Broadband Commission and highlighted, in particular, the issue of harmful content.

    He revealed that the session will hear an important report from the working group on child safety online and consider the creation of a new working group, led by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), focused on hate speech and disinformation.

    “Large-scale violence is always preceded by a process of dehumanization, through the spread of ideas that justify killing. We had a situation like this in my country 25 years ago. That is why we work to ensure that ideologies of hatred and division have no place in our public domain,” he said.

    President Kagame said that there was no internet in Rwanda in 1994 that radicalization is therefore not a new phenomenon, much less a by-product of modern social media.

    He noted that while the challenges of today are not qualitatively different, technology has indeed changed the landscape in two important ways. The first is speed where the internet is an accelerant costing very little to reach a lot of people very quickly. The second is the absence of accountability.

    “Individuals, who cause harm, can do so anonymously. It should properly be regarded as a form of cyber-crime. We do not need special rules and regulations for the virtual world. Nor is there any valid reason to constrain basic freedoms, or limit access to broadband. That would only slow development, and further deepen global inequalities,” he said.

    “We simply need the means to enforce our laws, and hold individuals accountable for what they do online, just as we do offline,” added Kagame.

    He said that access to broadband and infrastructure should go hand in hand. Noting that a lot is being done to move towards the goal of universal access to broadband by 2030.

    President Kagame also met with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on the sidelines of Broadband Commission meeting for sustainable development held at Facebook headquarters.

    The Broadband Commission was set up in 2010 to boost the role of technology in international budget planning and promoting broadband in all countries.

    The previous meeting was held in September 2018 in New York.

  • One arrested for killing grandmother

    The incident took place today morning when the old woman carrying a sack containing farmyard manure met his niece who hit her with a hoe who died on spot.

    The suspected man lives with his parents from where he came to kill the grandmother who lived in their neighborhood.

    Residents of the area have told IGIHE that the suspect is a mentally-ill patient.

    The Executive Secretary of Cyinzuzi sector, Zazou Sebagabo Nkuzimana has told IGIHE that the suspect had no criminal record.

    Sebagabo requested residents to provide timely information on crime suspects and collaborate with local security officers to counter crime.

    The suspect has been handed to Rwanda Investigation Bureau, Murambi station while the body of the deceased was taken to Rutongo hospital for postmortem.

  • Rwandans in North Dakota State, USA, commemorating

    The event which took place on Saturday 27th April 2019 was attended by over 150 participants of whom the majority are Rwandans living in North Dakota and their friends. It was preceded by a walk to remember held in Dickson State University and marked by lighting the flame of hope and reflecting of Rwanda’s resilience experience over the past 25 years after the genocide.

    Eric Baziga, one of Rwandans living in North Dakota, shared a talk on preparation and execution of genocide and urged participants to desist genocide ideology.

    Dr. Steven Doherty who represented Dickson University hailed the courage of Rwandans after genocide and promised that history of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi will be introduced among courses at the school so that the future leaders become fully aware of consequences of discrimination.

    The president of Rwandan diaspora in North Dakota, Théodore Havugimana requested Rwandans not to drown in sorrow but strive for self-dignity and rebuild the country.

    Mr. Frank Kayijuka, the First Counselor at the Rwandan Embassy in USA reflected on Rwanda’s bad history that led to genocide and thanked the bravery of RPF Inkotanyi soldiers for stopping genocide.

    He also tasked everyone to scale up efforts to resist genocide denials and trivialization.

    Rwandans living in North Dakota State of the United States of America (USA) commemorated the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi

  • Suspected thief shot dead in Nyarugenge

    The incident took place yesterday midnight as the young man, 22, forcibly pulled a Tecno phone from a man walking on foot.

    The Executive Secretary of Gitega sector, Gabriel Mutuyimana has told IGIHE that the suspect was shot as he tried to stab with a knife the phone’s owner.

    “Security officials shot the suspect as they saw him after grabbing the phone and getting ready to stab him with a knife,” he said.

    Mutuyimana explained that the man whose phone was robbed fled soon as he heard gunfire. The suspect had no identifications.

    The phone and the knife of the thief were taken to Nyarugenge police station.