Rwanda National Police (RNP), Society for Family Health (SFH) Rwanda and the Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Community Policing Organisation (RYVCPO) have signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding to strengthen awareness in security and hygiene.
The agreement was signed on May 4 at the RNP headquarters in Kacyiru and signatories included: ACP Damas Gatare, commissioner for community policing, Manasseh Gihana Wandera, executive director of SFH Rwanda and Justus Kangwagye, the Coordinator of RYVCPO.
The signing ceremony was presided over by the Minister of Local Government, Francis Kaboneka franked the Minister of Internal Security, Sheikh Musa Fazil Harerimana and Inspector General of Police, IGP Emmanuel. K Gasana.
It was also graced by the provincial Governors, district mayors and attended by heads and representatives of the youth volunteers from all districts, their Executive committee among others.
According to the agreement, both RNP and SFH Rwanda will, among others, reinforce the activities of youth volunteers, who will spearhead behavioral change in communities towards sustainable security, health and hygiene.
SFH Rwanda will, partly, avail its health and hygiene products and services to the youth including Interpersonal communication (IPC) sessions, promotional materials, to aid them in their awareness campaigns to ensure a crime free environment and healthy communities.
Minister Kaboneka noted that although Rwanda is a safe country, there are issues related to drug abuse, injustices by some people and leaders, and hygiene issues, among others, which still exist and have to be address soonest possible.
“Drug abuse can be a threat to the youth and ultimately to the nation, and so is unhygienic communities. Rwanda is yours and this country expects a lot from you,” Minister Kaboneka told the youth.
“Rwanda has become one of the safest countries globally due to such concerted efforts and we have no doubt that this partnership will drive it further through timely information to facilitate crime prevention and detection,” he added.
In his remarks Mr Gihana Manasseh Executive Director SFH, said. “This partnership is quit critical because it has attracted this mass of energetic youth; whose population is estimated to grow up to one million in the next one year. They will be our facilitators… our peer educators, who will go down to the grassroots level to teach, educate, mobilize and sensitize the public towards living in a hygienic environment and elimination malnutrition, we thank the Government for giving us this opportunity to contribute to our national development”
SFH is a local non-governmental organization that engages private partners to jointly implement specific programmes in line with the needs of society, with special focus on health-related programmes.
Malnutrition, Gihana said, is still a big problem is Rwanda adding that it is “mostly about behavior and practices” that such organized youth, when “well equipped can be agents of change towards elimination of malnutrition.”
Kangwagye, on his part, said that as the youth organization, their “voices and actions in this campaign will roar down to the grassroots level” but called upon the civil society to utilize the power of the youth if their targets are to be effectively met.
According to police, Hygiene,health and security are closely linked because safety begins with individual’s survival. “promotion of people’s well being effectively leads crime prevention and this what community policing is all about. ACP Celestin Twahirwa said.
“Our major role is to train YVCPO, coordinate with them and SFH in the implementation of this MOU and furtherance of the human security activities they are to undertake. ACP Twahirwa emphasized.
This MoU comes to reinforce the existing unique partnership between RNP and RYVCO enshrined in their agreement signed in May last year to formalize their partnership in community awareness and fight against crimes through promotion of community safety and realizing the idea of human security a tradition.
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