The British High Commission in Rwanda through the twitter account, congratulated Cotton for the medal.
“Congratulations to Professor Phillip Cotton of University of Rwanda on receiving his OBE from William Gelling for service to education in Rwanda” twit reads.
The medal is an appreciation offered by Queen Elizabeth II to honour every individual who plays important role in the development of the country he serves, through different sectors like economy, humanitarian activities or in government positions.
OBE is among five medals of honour awarded by Queen Elizabeth II.
Phillip Cotton (L) receives a medal from William Gelling
The discussion about the development of peace education took place on the first day of the 3rd Annual Commemoration of the World Alliance Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit held in Seoul, Republic of Korea on September 17, organised by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, and Restoration of Light (HWPL) under the UN ECOSOC.
As a part of “establishing collaborative governance for development and implementation of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) drafted by HWPL in 2016 to advocate international cooperation with participation of civil society in peace building efforts, the forum with education specialists as participants diagnosed the current issues of education in countries and discussed introduction and application of peace education inspired by HWPL.
Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL emphasized comprehensive application of peace education by saying, “We need peace education specifically for today. We ourselves should be the reality of peace education. Without the spirit of peace in himself, how can he possibly educate peace to students? To do this, peace education must start from family so that the family becomes peaceful with the spirit of peace.”
Maria Eugenia Barrios Robles de Mejía, Vice Minister of Education in Guatemala, said “We should help the citizens of tomorrow be more tolerant of each other and know that a dialogue is the way to accept their differences and solve their conflicts.”
Participants discussed ways to enhance communication and network for inventing methodology and curriculum of peace education for future generations and to raise awareness of the need for teachers’ understanding of the value of peace with detailed educational contents.
“When we as teachers take up the responsibility to speak to our students, and be the necessary role models concerning how we speak, relationships and the adherence to order within society, we will start seeing the results in our students.” said Nancy Roussopoulos, former Principal of Camps Bay Preparatory School in Cape Town, South Africa.
Prof. Juan Carlos Torres from Don Bosco University shared his teaching experience of peace education by saying “When I applied the focus of ‘conflict resolution’ value of HWPL, with children 5-9 years old, the result was surprising. The change in attitude in their faces and joy was drawn on the paper. This education will change and form these values within their hearts as a permanent change.”
As an action plan to develop peace education discussed at the high-level meeting with education specialists last year, HWPL has established HWPL Peace Academies with 127 education institutions in nine countries including India, Israel, Kosovo, and the Philippines.
The Smurfs by Marta Mascellani will be turned into a special livery plane to be unveiled next March. Precedent four Belgian Icons are Rakcham (Tintin), Magritte, Trident (Red Devils) and Amare (tomorrowland).
“WE HAVE A WINNER! Thank you for all your votes and ideas. Here is our winner: “The Smurfs” by Marta Mascellani. Congratulations! We look forward to showing you our 5th Belgian Icon which will be revealed in spring next year,” reads the statement by Brussels Airlines.
Marta M., an Italian student, commented on the victory saying, “The main subject is “Les schtroumpfs” because in 2018 there will be the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the cartoon. I drew them as members of Brussels Airlines crew as well as passengers. I inserted also two other objects which clearly represent Belgium: the first one is the Atomium (on the top of the trolley) and the other one is the Sax, played by the last passenger on the right. For the background I used the colours of Belgian flag.”
Belgian giant carrier had, in August, launched a competition in which the carrier’s customers submitted 1415 entries about the Belgian idea or person they wish to see soaring through the skies on an Airbus A320.
Two finalists, The Smurfs by Marta Mascellani and Art Nouveau/Horta by Ahmet Sefer were picked a fortnight ago and everyone was allowed to cast their vote until last Sunday.
The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, where they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than 100 Smurf characters.
No idea is too crazy in the land of surrealism: designs of dancing chicory and the hair of Belgian Red Devil Fellaini were just some of the more eccentric ideas. The most popular ideas were however related to Belgian comics (the Smurfs, Marsupilami, Lucky Luke, Le Chat,..), music (Toots Thielemans, the Saxophone, Jacques Brel,…) and food (chocolate, fries, waffles,…). Ideas were submitted not only by Belgians, but also by fans from France, Germany, Uganda, Lebanon and Colombia.
The jury, consisting of Tomorrowland General Manager Dave Sips, Olympic champion Olivia Borlée, CEO of Pairi Daiza Eric Domb, CEO and artistic director of BOZAR Paul Dujardin, producer and musician Netsky and Belgian Star Chef Yves Mattagne had anything but an easy task to select two finalists out of all the entries, but on Monday night they reached a decision, together with Brussels Airlines representatives, including CEO Bernard Gustin.
The jury considered, among other criteria, the international character, the uniqueness of the designs and if the icon is a good ambassador for Belgium.
Next to eternal fame, the winner gets to follow the entire design process and the creation of the Belgian Icon behind the scenes. Furthermore, the winner will be on the front row during the big reveal event and will fly on its maiden voyage.
Tintin, Magritte, the Belgian Red Devils and Tomorrowland each fly proudly on an Airbus A320 as Belgian Icons. Also on board, Brussels Airlines does whatever it takes to immerse her passengers in the Belgian culture: from chocolates, beers and menus made by Belgian Star Chefs to cabin crew uniforms designed by Belgian designers.
The departing officers are Jean Baptiste Mugunga of Nyamabuye sector and Hubert Ruzindana of Kibangu sector.
Cells executive secretaries are those of Remera, Gahogo and Gitarama.
All executive secretaries submitted their resignation letters in the District extra-ordinary meeting that discussed different performance issues in Muhanga.
All cells are in Nyamabuye, a Muhanga town-based sector.
Among reasons behind their resignation are land related issues, city master plan implementation queries and poor hygiene.
The deputy commissioner for custom services at Rwanda Revenue Authority, William Musoni said that when selecting AEOs, they consider integrity among traders with imports threshold of above Rwf200 million.
Under this memorandum, commodities pass the border without customs clearance and get cleared afterwards.
“It eases movement of goods and their clearance is done after the goods have entered the country” he said.
Speaking at the event, the minister for trade and industry, Vincent Munyeshyaka said that the move will not only facilitate traders, but also impact the Rwandan economy
“As many imported products are used in industries, it supports the economy by reducing the cost of transportation. It also affects EAC countries’ economy in general” he said.
He said that 46 traders enjoy the same opportunity in Rwanda and East African Community
Speaking to IGIHE, the chairperson of Gisagara District Advisory Council Innocent Uwimana said that they received the resignation letter Thursday afternoon.
“We received his letter mentioning personal reasons” he said.
He said that the district council will meet very soon to review his resignation before accepting it.
Mvukiyehe has been Gisagara Executive Secretary since 2011.
In order to continue advancing the important work of this subsidiary organ of the UNWTO General Assembly, the mandate of the outgoing members of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics was renewed until 2021, with Pascal Lamy continuing to chair the Committee.
Joining the four Members whose mandate was set to end in 2019 – Yoshiaki Hompo (Japan), Fiona Jeffery (UK), Tanja Mihalic (Slovenia) and Eugenio Yunis (Chile) – will be Gede Ardika (Indonesia), Jean Marc Mignon (International Social Tourism Organization) and Ron Oswald (The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations) as Committee Members, and Hiran Cooray (Sri Lanka), Suzy Hatough (Jordan) and Günnur Diker (Turkey) as Alternates.
The only new member joining the World Committee on Tourism Ethics for a four-year term starting 17th of September this year is Rosette Chantal Rugamba, Founder and Managing Director of Songa Africa and Amakoro Lodge in Rwanda.
By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome
The Smart Village, located in Tumba Sector Rulindo District, Northern Province, has a population of 21,000 and an estimated 5,000 households.
The Smart Village Initiative aims to bridge the digital divide in rural Rwanda by bringing technological solutions and innovations to residents in order to enhance their daily lives, increase socio-economic opportunities and create jobs by increasing their access to ICT and services.
The pillars of the Smart Village are Digital Literacy, Financial Inclusion, Education, Connectivity/Electricity, Healthcare, Agriculture, Governance and Smart Markets.
Tigo Rwanda supports the Smart Village Initiative through the three pillars of Connectivity, Digital Literacy and Financial Inclusion.
“In order to support the three pillars, Tigo Rwanda invested in providing 3G and 4G connectivity to the 21, 000 Tumba Sector residents. Today, they are able to enjoy the fastest and most affordable Internet in the country”said Tigo Rwanda Deputy Chief Operating Executive, Chantal UmutoniKagame on the launch of the Tumba Smart Village
Working with suppliers, Tigoprovide subsidized handsets to residents. The feature phones and smart phones Tigo provides are the most affordable in Rwanda at the cost of Rrw6,000 and Rrw36,000 respectively.
“This shall ensure that as many people in this community are able to access handsets” she said.
Alongside our partners, our VAS (Value Addded Services) trainers are teaching residents how to utilize the Internet, thereby opening the digital world to them. Using our various Mobile Financial Services, residents can now enjoy Tigo Cash services such as Push and Pull, which allow them to move money to and from their bank accounts using their handsets,Umutoni reiterated
With Tigo’s Digital Saving Groups platform, they created a platform that allows unbanked local savings groups (Ibimina) to digitize.
“Now youth and women’s groups as well as cooperatives can enjoy the convenience of our MFS tools” she added.
Vuba led a group named after former leader Kuryama. He is a son of the late, legendary silverback Titus and a well-known female named Tuck was his mother. He spent many years with Titus, and inherited the gentle facial expressions of his father as well as his kind behavior toward all of the group members. When his brother, Kuryama, formed his own group in 2007, Vuba went with him, keeping a subordinate position but always well accepted by the group. He became dominant after the death of former leader Kirahure in August 2015. Kirahure had taken over following the death of Kuryama.
Starting soon after taking over leadership, Vuba led his group across the border of Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of Congo, beyond the ranging area of our trackers. This was repeated again in 2016, until they re-stabilized in their original range in Rwanda last September.
Vuba had the support of two younger silverbacks in the group – 14-year-old Igihozo and 13-year-old Tetero – who will now have the task of leading the group. Their presence is a great advantage for the group and may help it stay cohesive. With the loss of Vuba, the group contains only seven members. It is an unusual group in that there is only one adult female member.
Vuba is one of the many gorillas who have been followed throughout their entire lives by the Fossey Fund, so his loss is deeply felt by the staff. “We are extremely saddened by Vuba’s death,” says Felix Ndagijimana, the Fossey Fund’s director of the Karisoke Research Center and all of our Rwanda programs. “He was a great leader and played a crucial role in maintaining the integrity and cohesiveness of the group during the different dominance changes it went through.”
“He was one of the most gentle male gorillas I’ve ever met,” says Veronica Vecellio, Fossey Fund gorilla program manager. “We rarely saw Vuba engaging in or initiating a fight. His personality was suited to so many roles and phases of his life, from supporter of prior group leaders to peaceful leader in his own right.”
All five EAC countries’ prosecutor generals are in Kigali for a yearly meeting where
Mutangana reminded them that Rwanda still has a problem of Genocide suspects still at large, many of who are in the EAC countries.
“They are many suspects especially in Uganda and Kenya. These countries differ from European countries that have every individual’s identity on their land, it is easy to be tracked and arrested from there. But in our region, a person moves from one country to another without travel documents,” he said.
According to Mutangana, the meeting is an opportunity to remind and request the top justice officials in EAC to extradite genocide suspects and face justice.
“We remind them to extradite the suspects t o Rwanda or prosecute them in the host countries. After this meeting, we hope that something will be done, it might be not done today or tomorrow, but something will have to be done,” he said.
The vice-prosecutor general in Tanzania, Ayub Mwenda said that his country is ready to arrest any suspected perpetrator.
“We usually extradite suspects to face justice in their countries or we take them to our courts,” he said.
The Rwanda’s prosecution has sent 600 arrest warrants for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi suspects in 32 countries from Africa, Europe, North-America, Canada and New Zealand.
