Tag: HomeHighlights

{A couple from Kinigi,in the Northern Province, tested HIV positive during the prenatal visit for their first child. Devastated by this news, they stopped going to the doctor’s. Realising this couple never came back for their follow-up visits, their nurse enlisted the help of Françoise, an Imbuto Foundation peer educator to go to their home. }

Françoise talked to the couple and shared her personal experience as an HIV positive woman, to encourage them not to give up and keep seeking the much-needed health and psycho-social support provided at their health center.

Thanks for her counseling, they resumed their medical visits and treatments and eventually gave birth to healthy twins.

Stories like this serve as a sobering reminder that the fight against HIV/AIDS is still relevant and far from over. At Imbuto Foundation, we become more hopeful when progress is achieved through programs like Family Package, dedicated to providing the tailored health support Rwandan communities need to keep the viral load low in infected patient sand eliminate the transmission of this virus to the newborn child.

However, one cannot afford to be complacent faced with a mutating virus which has infected 78 million people and claimed the lives of 39 millions since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980’s. Vigilance is imperative to give our future generation an HIV-free world.And even more so, knowing that Sub-Saharan Africa carries the bulk of cases with 71% of total number of people living with the virus, and 91% of HIV positive children.

Rwanda strikes a particular chord. Following the Genocide against the Tutsi,it was faced with a widespread HIV/AIDS epidemic, partly as a result of the massive rapes used as a weapon of war to deliberately infect women with the virus. The country had to care for hundreds of thousands of HIV/AIDS cases with a virtually nonexistent health infrastructure.

To face these challenges, the government and civil society progressively strengthened our health systems and developed a number of HIV programs to build the path to Rwanda’s Zero HIV status, by availing ART drugs and emphasizing the prevention of new infections.These vigorous efforts helped achieve a 50% reduction in the number of new infections and almost 80% decline in AIDS-related deaths since 1994.

Today, the number of people living with the virus has been lowered from double digits to a 3% average rate and the Ministry of Health continues to make it a priority to educate the population and eradicate HIV/AIDS.

Aligning with national health priorities, our Foundation focused on equipping vulnerable groups with knowledge on HIV/AIDS through programs like Family Package, Mountain Moversand Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health & Rights.

These programs are continuously reassessed to provide the best approach to tackle the challenges faced by our communities. For us, responding creatively to the needs of our beneficiaries meant staying ahead of the game by keeping them duly involved and engaged while addressing serious concerns that often remained unvoiced.

Imbuto Foundation started in 2001 with Family Package to deal with the severe HIV/AIDS epidemic post-1994.This project concentrated on HIV positive pregnant mothers with a view to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Now presenting 27 health centers of 6 districts, this project continues to provide a variety of services including family planning, male partner involvement, access to medical care and psycho-social support.

The other two projects were designed with the youth in mind,because young people needed tailored programs to empower them to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Imbuto Foundation involved trained peer educators who promoted positive behavior among the youth,and set-up youth-friendly services in health centers.

Still in line with our crosscutting approach, Imbuto Foundation tackled the stigma and discrimination preventing some infected groups to seek the care they needed. Fighting ignorance and discrimination was to enable a mindset change to contribute to a reversal in the trend of the disease.

When HIV/AIDS first shook the world as an unknown and complex disease, a wave of fear fuelled untruths and misunderstandings about howit was transmitted and who was more at risk of contracting it. Through education and awareness the world has now gradually come to grasp the fundamentals of the disease and how to betterprotect itself.Globally, we mustrelentlessly continuetopush for collective efforts to support health experts in finding a cure for a definitive solution.

The world is on a quest to bring the HIV epidemic to zero and strategicsteps have brought us closer to this goal.

Together, let us keep the momentum and boldly aim for full eradication.

{THE East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has passed the EAC Forests Management and Protection Bill 2015 in effect putting in place a regional framework to conserve the environment.}

The Bill whose mover is Mr Christophe Bazivamo sailed through at its 3rd Reading after the Committee stage scrutinized its various clauses, proposing amendments. The Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources draft was presented by Ms.Judith Pareno on behalf of the Chair.

The EAC Forestry and Management Protection Bill, 2015 hopes to promote the development, protection, conservation, sustainable management and use of the forests in the Community especially trans-boundary forests ecosystems, in the interest of present and future generations.

It further wants to espouse the scientific, cultural and socio-economic values of forests and harmonise national forest laws. Once amends are integrated, the Bill is expected to undergo assent by the Heads of State in line with Article 63 of the Treaty for the Establishment of EAC.

The Bill seeks to operationalize Article 112 (1) d) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC in which Partner States undertook to co-operate in the management of the environment and agreed to take necessary disaster preparedness, management, protection and mitigation measures especially for the control of natural and man-made disasters.

It also delineates the roles and responsibilities of Partner States and seeks to promote uniformity and integration in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and management.

Finally it seeks to create a regional mechanism which would enable a timely intervention in disaster situations. The Assembly had at its last sitting in Nairobi in October 2015, adjourned debate on the Bill.

The adjournment at Committee stage followed the successful Motion for the same, tabled by the Chair of EAC Council of Ministers Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, seeking for more time to enable Tanzania make some input.

Dr Mwakyembe then informed the House that Tanzania held General Election recently and that it was necessary for the debate to be put on hold until such time that government is in place to effectively enable the Partner State to make its input. The Bill has five parts with the Preliminaries and objectives contained in Part 1.

Part two covers general measures on forest management and protection while Governance and institutions of forest management and control are entailed in part 3 of the Bill.

Part 4 amplifies trade in forest related products while section 5 envisages co-ordination matters under a Board known as the EAC Forests Board to be operationalized by the Council of Ministers.

SOURCE:DAILY NEWS:[EALA enacts Forest Management Bill->http://dailynews.co.tz/index.php/home-news/44616-eala-enacts-forest-management-bill]

{Following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda was a physical, moral, and spiritual wasteland doomed, in the eyes of many, to be a failed state. After 100 days of a killing frenzy that took the lives of more than one million people, destroyed the social fabric of a society, and stripped the country of resources, the nation looked destitute and in ultimate crisis mode. }

Twenty one years later, Rwanda has risen from the ashes to be a reference in successful and exemplary post-conflict recovery in various domains, including economic development, reconciliation, good governance, women’s empowerment and gender equality, good business environment, and more.

Even though President Kagame would probably point to a system rather than to the effort of one individual, many people have argued and indeed documented the fact Rwanda’s rebirth was spearheaded by the strong leadership, resolute political will, and an unwavering sense of purpose, urgency, and resilience of one person: Paul Kagame.

A google search of the accolades he has received because of his leadership generates dozens of acknowledgements for his commitment to address crises, reconcile his people, empower women, promote the use of ICT, and produce positive changes in the lives of Rwandans.

A recent publication, François Soudan’s Paul Kagame: Conversations with the President of Rwanda (Enigma, 2015), spells out the leadership attributes behind Rwanda’s transformation. In his own words, prompted by the journalist’s questions, Paul Kagame spells out his identity as a leader marked by exceptional experiences that modeled his authentic, transformational, and Level 5 leadership.

{{What is leadership?}}

It is about defining a vision and persuading other people to embrace and follow it; in other words, it is about influence. Leaders should be neither liked nor feared but credible, a combination of skill (knowledge) and character (values). A good leader will know what his or her non-negotiables are (for example, integrity, honesty, character, and respect for others) and make sure that his or her organisation has clearly defined its vision or value proposition.

He or she will diagnose situations, flex, and partner with others for desired performance. This is because there are several leadership styles, and people rarely use only one. One’s leadership style will shift depending on the situation. Good leaders know that they need to manage ever-changing situations; leaders are managers of change, and they know how to motivate followers, turn them into leaders in their own right, and get results.

In “What Makes a Leader” (Harvard Business Review, 2007), Daniel Goleman argues that a leader displays emotional intelligence attributes: self-awareness (self-assessment and awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses as well as self-confidence), self-management or regulation (self-control, adaptability, transformation, trustworthiness, achievement, and initiative), internal motivation (motivation not from external rewards such as riches and status but from internal forces such a deep-held vision, optimism even in the face of adversity, and persistence to achieve results), social awareness (empathy, organizational awareness, service orientation, and attention to the needs of clients), and social skills (inspirational leadership, communication, conflict management, teamwork and collaboration, as well as relationships and coalitions).

Leaders surround themselves with the right people in the right jobs and create a stable and supportive environment that in turn fosters motivation and engagement. These kinds of leaders create winning teams and winning situations.

Some of the highlights of emotional intelligence in Kagame: Conversations with the Rwandan President include Paul Kagame’s insistence on appealing to values and principles that he developed over the years, for example, building on systems rather than individuals, shaping his fight for the return of refugees and asserting that Rwanda is not too small for its people (contrary to what previous regimes had claimed), as he repeated during an address to delegates at Rwanda Day 2015 in Amsterdam (in the Netherlands) in early October, and the importance of including women in his vision for the reconstruction of Rwanda—as he recently recalled during an address to students and faculty of the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania (USA) on September 30th.

Throughout the interviews with François Soudan, he projects self-confidence, internal motivation, strength in the face of adversity, and persistence to achieve results, among other qualities.

In “Discovering Your Authentic Leadership” (Harvard Business Review, 2007), Bill George, Peter Seems, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Meyer maintain that authentic leadership refers to understanding the story of one’s life, particularly those difficult yet transformative experiences through which one can find the motivation to make an impact in the world.

These experiences have the potential to challenge a person to develop strong convictions and the inner strength and urge to lead others to action. Authentic leadership entails practicing one’s values and principles and balancing one’s extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Authentic leaders have faced extreme situations that they used to shape their vision and produce outstanding results without losing track of who they are or where they come from.

In Kagame: Conversations with the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame states that he has “learned from and been shaped by my life experience” (p.4) and subsequently mentions several such instances that shaped his vision of leadership. For example, he discusses the turbulent 1950s and early 1960s that saw his family’s life take a turn for the worse. When he was only four years old his family was torn away. He saw burning houses, and Hutu mobs were killing Tutsi and their cattle. His family narrowly escaped a mob that was approaching their home. They eventually ended up in a refugee camp in Uganda.

The hardship of refugee life shaped Kagame’s methodical long-term goal of going back to his homeland. He could not just understand why anybody should be denied the right to his/her country. This injustice shaped his love for his motherland and the imperative to end the decades-long refugee status of many Rwandans scattered in foreign lands since the late 1950s.

The hardship of refugee life informed Kagame’s vision for inclusive citizenship: since 1994, the government led by the Rwandan Patriotic Front has made welcoming Rwandans in the diaspora a central piece of its policy.

During the first two republics under Grégoire Kayibanda and Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandans living outside Rwanda found it impossible to return home or to visit their homeland supposedly because the country was too small to accommodate its citizens languishing in refugee life.

What is transformational leadership? In his book Leadership (Harper & Row, 1978), James M. Burns defined it as “a process by which leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation” (p. 20).

It is a notch higher than transactional leadership. While transactional leadership exerts power in a positional manner (resulting in zero sum situations through legitimate, coercive, or reward power), transformational leadership operates through expert and referent power that is through idealized influence, support, encouragement, and persuasion.

A transformational leader will influence through a clear vision, effective communication, motivation, optimism, and role-modeling. Grounded in his or her values, principles, passion, consistency, and discipline, he or she is fearless and unstoppable. Transformational leadership is the present and future of leadership; it entails leading people, strategic planning, resourcefulness, good change management, and participative management.

Transformational leadership creates a safe and stable environment in which people can succeed, develop, and lead at all levels and all the time. Once a clear and compelling vision has been defined, the transformational leader guides, motivates, and supports followers to look beyond their own self-interests, challenge the status quo, and look for new ways of doing things.

Whether he is talking about unity or about fighting past, failed policies of exclusion or corruption, Kagame focuses on system, or shared vision. Transcending ethnic affiliation, for example, helps to envision higher order national aspirations. He provides the model of an incorruptible, disciplined, and authentic leader, who projects optimism and the confidence that great things can happen.

This is one of the main reasons that explain the rebranding of a country that was dead in 1994 but is now vibrant.

Using various new strategies such as decentralization, surrounding himself with knowledgeable people, innovation, traditional cultural practices (such as umuganda, imihigo, Girinka, and ubudehe) leveraged as solutions to current challenges, he has presided over the transformation of a nation that leads as an exemplar in various domains.

As a result, Rwanda has a totally new brand of a safe and clean country, where reconciliation has taken solid roots, when women and girls have their fair, equal share in education and government, where it is easy to do business, and which sends thousands of troops to peacekeeping missions around the globe. If it continues to be well managed, Rwanda’s hard-earned new brand equity will only continue to grow.

In “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve”(Harvard Business Review, 2001), Jim Collins argues that Level 5 leadership combines personal humility and professional will and creates lasting greatness. Personal humility entails a compelling modesty, calm determination, principled vision and values, and the shunning of public adulation. Professional will is characterized by an unwavering resolve to go from good to great and the achievement of lasting long-term, superb results even in a difficult environment.

Moments of extreme crisis provide venues where level 5 leadership is demonstrated, as this potently shows in the Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance, in which a mission of exploration turned into one of survival and demonstrated a superior sense of leadership in crisis.

Shackleton, a British polar explorer, successfully infused resilience in his crew, stranded in a sea of ice away from human civilization, through inspiration, discipline, and endurance. Against all odds, after months of extreme adversity, he took all his crew to safety. Shackleton demonstrated good management of adaptive change, transformational leadership, and level 5 leadership.

In Kagame: Conversations with the President of Rwanda, two moments of extreme crisis stand out. The first one occurs in the early days of the 1990-1994 Civil War. The Rwandan Patriotic Front’s early success was suddenly halted by a combination of elements, including the death of the commanding officer Fred Rwigema, the intervention of the French military on the side of Juvenal Habyarimana’s forces, and mostly, according to Kagame, the “lack of organization and thorough thinking”

He left the military course he was taking at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas (USA) and joined a demoralized, defeated RPF front in need of “more planning and organization” (p. 48). He reorganized the depleted troops originally in the inhospitable cold mountains of the North.

Without adequate food or medication, outnumbered several times over by the other side that had better military equipment and continued to benefit from strong French support, the RPF nevertheless eventually captured Kigali, then much of Rwanda by early July 1994, and put an end to the one-hundred days of genocide against the Tutsi.

This is where the second instance of Level 5 Leadership comes in: the country was absolutely devastated: about one million dead and all the elements of nationhood completely destroyed—the human, social, cultural, political, and economic foundations had been shattered, planned and sustained ethnic divisions, and the ultimate evil that engulfed the country in April-July 1994: genocide. The reality presented a gargantuan challenge.

In Kagame’s own words, “The country was more or less dead. We have come back to life. You have no other comparable phenomenon in the world today” (p.89). Instead of giving up, Paul Kagame and the RPF-led government engineered, through strong leadership and resolute political will, the rebuilding of the nation with an unwavering sense of purpose through a system that demands accountability and delivers results.

Twenty-one years later, against all odds, the country has gone from death to survival to revival. In rebuilding Rwanda from the ashes of 1994, President Kagame has displayed the qualities of Level 5 leadership. Readers interested in Rwanda’s transformation and Paul Kagame’s leadership will also want to read Stephen Kinzer’s A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed it (Wiley, 2008) and Patricia Crisafulli & Andrea Redmond’s Rwanda, Inc.: How a Devastated Nation Became an Economic Model for the Developing World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

SOURCE:The New Times:[Why strong leadership has been important to Rwanda’s re-birth->http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-11-29/194826/]

President Paul Kagame and his family yesterday paid their last respects to Asteria Rutagambwa as she was laid to rest in her hometown of Ruhango.

The requiem mass was attended by more than 2000 family and friends from Rwanda, the region and beyond, including a delegation from Uganda led by Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa.

Eulogising his departed mother, President Kagame began by thanking the doctors and nurses who took care of her throughout her illness as well as his sisters and the First Lady, Jeannette Kagame.

Having lost his father at a young age, Kagame described Asteria Rutagambwa as becoming both his mother and father and sacrificing to provide for her family.

“My mother was a dignified woman. She taught us to respect ourselves and give respect to others. She gave us more than we were ever able to give to her,” he said.

Kagame expressed sadness at the loss of his mother but added that the life she lived was one that brought joy and pride to her family.

“The hardships we and our parents have endured should not be wasted but should serve as a lesson. It should transform us for the better. Today, Rwanda remains standing and it is our role to keep it that way. I thank each of you for your contribution to our country’s transformation,” Kagame said.

Asteria Rutagambwa had four daughters and two sons. She passed away on November 22 at the age of 84, leaving 13 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Tweeting on the death of his mother, President Kagame said: “I know mothers are special people to many….mine was very very special to me. She has passed on. May God rest her in peace.”

SOURCE:[The New Times:Fare thee well: Kagame, family say adieu to Asteria Rutagambwa->http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-11-28/194800/]

{The anticipated referendum on lifting of presidential term limits moved a step closer as Parliament forwarded the proposed constitutional amendments to government, yesterday.}

The Lower House passed a draft law proposing amendments to the Constitution, a step that will be followed by a national referendum for citizens to decide on new provisions in the draft law about presidential term limits.

It is not yet clear when the referendum will take place but everything that has to be done before it is organised will have to be done as fast as possible because that is the wish of citizens, according to MPs.

“Citizens have told us that they want the referendum to happen before the end of the year. It’s up to the government to consider people’s wish,” Deputy Speaker of Parliament in charge of administration, Abbas Mukama, said yesterday.

Parliament initiated changes to the country’s supreme law after more than 3.7 million Rwandans (59 per cent of eligible voters) had petitioned the House to review the law to allow President Paul Kagame to continue his stewardship of the country beyond 2017 when his second term in office expires.

Following countrywide consultations on the issue by Members of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies made amendments to the Constitution, which were later endorsed by senators.

The draft law passed by Parliament on Monday reduces presidential term limits from seven to five years renewable only once.

But the change will be preceded by one transitional presidential term of seven years for which any presidential candidates, including President Paul Kagame – should he choose to run – will be eligible.

A raft of other changes were also made in the Constitution, ranging from the vetting process of the Senate, and senators’ term in office, to modalities under which a former president vies for a senatorial position.

“Parliament is glad that it has well completed the Constitutional review process,” Donatille Mukabalisa, the Speaker of Parliament, told journalists on Monday.

Mukabalisa explained that the draft law amending the Constitution is handed to the government so that it can organise a referendum on the amendments.

“We are going to send the bill to the government and request it to prepare the referendum as it is required by the law because there is a provision in the reviewed Constitution whose approval requires a referendum,” the Speaker said, alluding to provisions about presidential term limits.

Mukama told The New Times that the draft law was last evening sent to government.

The latest voters’ register at the National Electoral Commission indicates that at least 6.3 million Rwandans will be eligible to vote.

Source:The New Times:[Parliament paves way for referendum on term limit->http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-11-25/194708/]

{The Rwanda National Police has spelled-out priorities as an institution, with training of its Force among the key aspects so they can ably confront the emerging security threats, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has said.}

IGP Emmanuel K Gasana was speaking while opening the fourth United Nations Police Officers Course that will run for two weeks at Gishari Police Training School in Rwamagana District, yesterday.

The course has attracted 60 officers from Uganda, Kenya, Comoros, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Denmark and hosts Rwanda.

The Eastern African Standby Force (EASF) is conducting United Nations Police Officers’ Course to prepare for the Police standby force for the African Union mandated peacekeeping operations.

“Peacekeepers must be well trained to enhance their capabilities in dealing with mission situations in various forms,” Gasana said.

“Rwanda has been identified as a regional centre for training in the EAPCCO region, although we alsp train officers from across the continent. Such a course enables our schools to gain more experience in conducting and organising such trainings,” the Police chief added.

The course is aimed at preparing more standby police force for deployment in Eastern African Standby Force mandated missions as well as consolidating of the recently achieved full operational capability.

According to the IGP, Rwanda has been and continues to contribute to international military, police and civilian components of peacekeeping force.

“We have since become serious partners and are now ranked the fifth largest contributor in peace support operations engagements. We are in eight UN missions across the globe,” Gasana, who disclosed that RNP was generating a women’s Formed Police Unit (FPU) making it the sixth FPU to the UN, said.

“This is a strong commitment Rwanda has made toward peace and security in the world,” he said.

Impact of cooperation

The course was organised by EASF in partnership with British Peace Support Team (BPST).

The UK High Commissioner to Rwanda, William Gelling, said the course goes to show what is possible when police forces from across the region and the world work together.

“It also goes to show Rwanda’s growing role as a regional hub for this kind of work,” Gelling said.

He said UK believed firmly in the necessity of peacekeeping, to prevent the world’s most difficult or intractable conflicts from worsening, and to ensure that fragile situations do not turn disastrous.

“I commend Rwanda National Police for hosting the course. I congratulate the attendees and thank respective countries and organisations for having nominated you as trainers or trainees to participate in the recent three-day trainers workshop and the two weeks of training starting today,” he said.

Gelling said the UK is committed to supporting AU AMISOM Individual Police Officers and Force Protection Unit training and capacity building.

“Our aim is to ensure that participants are trained in UN mission specific and mandate requirements, and to enable participants to have greater impact and more successful missions on peacekeeping duties,” he said.

The course that the officers are undertaking will cover the background of UN and AU, the dynamics of peacekeeping operations, expected conduct and discipline of peacekeepers, challenges in missions and techniques of overcoming them, skills, knowledge and attitude mandatory for officers in a peacekeeping mission, among others.

Speaking on behalf of EASF, Finn-Torre Peterson said the course is one of the last EASF Police activities of 2015.

“The recently achieved Full Operation Capability (FOC), which is the EASF capability to deploy in a conflict situation, faces challenges of maintaining and consolidating demands,” said Peterson, adding that the training is one of the answers to these challenges.

“The demands of FOC range from logistical aspects and internal politics in the affected state, to over-reliance on external partners.”

Source:The New Times:[UN Police course opens at Gishari Police School->http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-11-24/194662/]

{Rwanda is investigating the death of nine Spaniards killed in the country and DR Congo in the 1990s.}

Prosecutor-General Richard Muhumuza told the [Spanish] Criminal Division of the National Court and the Central Court of Instruction No. 4, in charge of investigating the case and in the process of executing the judgement issued by the Supreme Court on September 24, to lift the arrest warrants against the 40 Rwandan military officers prosecuted for crimes of terrorism, torture, and genocide, acts in which the Spaniards were killed.

Two priests, four members of the Marist Brothers and three aid workers were killed in Rwanda and Congo between 1994 and 1997.

This was acknowledged by the Criminal Division of the National Court in a decision of January 28.

Twenty years after these killings, the investigation is still open in Rwanda – only one person is in prison for the death of one of the priests – while in Spain, the Supreme Court decided to provisionally dismiss the sentence against the 40 military defendants, because they are neither Spanish nor present in Spain.

Rwanda’s Criminal Investigation Department has opened investigations into each of the killings, Muhumuza informed the High Court last May. To-date, only one person has been convicted–by the Primary Court of Gitarama–which sentenced Isidro Uzcudun to 20 years in prison for the murder of a priest.

The suspects in the deaths of the other eight Spaniards are still at large. According to the document submitted by Rwanda to Spain, Catalan priest Joaquín Valmajó i Sala was kidnapped on April 26, 1994, in Byumba “by unknown armed men.”

“The priest drove his own car, accompanied by an armed soldier,” Muhumuza told Fernando Andreu, the Spanish magistrate in the case. “Since that day, Father Valmajó has not been seen again.”
Interrogations

Nine witnesses were questioned by Rwandan authorities in connection with the disappearance of the priest, but their statements have not clarified whether the kidnappers were then government soldiers, Rwandan Patriotic Army, or other armed people.

A witness testified that the area where the priest disappeared was controlled by ex-government soldiers and other armed groups.

As for four Marists, the Rwandan investigation located the place of death in Bugobe near the Nyamitangwe refugee camp in DR Congo. Their bodies were found on November 9, 1996, in a 12-metre closed well.

The investigations revealed that there were witnesses who saw a vehicle owned by the congregation with objects stolen from this community. A witness identified a member of the Interahamwe militia.

The three aid workers, Manuel Madrazo, Flors Sirera and Luis Valtueña, died on January 18, 1997, in Ruhengeri.

Police took statements from 13 witnesses who agreed that 20 armed men dressed in coats attacked the house where the Spaniards lived. One of the witnesses said various houses belonging to expatriates were also attacked the same day, which he described as “the goal” of the attackers.

“These cases are still under Police investigation and remain open,” said the Rwandan prosecutor to Spanish authorities, with whom he offered to “work together” in the investigations.

Spanish judicial sources confirmed to El Mundo newspaper about the ongoing investigations of these murders.

In expectation of Spanish prosecutor’s ruling on the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the arrest warrants of 40 officers, and Fernando Andreu’s execution of the judgment of the ​High Court, sources familiar with the investigation said prosecution cancelled the warrants.

The New Times

{The Ministry of Internal Security has announced that Northern Corridor countries will deport fugitives and convicts so they can face justice and serve time in their respective countries where they might have committed crimes. }

Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya under the Northern Corridor Initiative have signed a memorandum of understanding to bring deportation of convicts and fugitives into effect during the closing ceremony of a four- day meeting on security.

The Minister of Internal Security Sheikh Harerimana Mussa Fazil argued that under the new arrangement, convicts will serve their sentences near their families.
The Uganda State Minister for internal affairs, James Baba has noted that the exchange of convicts will start soon regardless of the remaining time to be served.

“We know there are some Ugandans are jailed in Rwanda or Kenya even though we don’t have statistics,” he said.

Harerimana noted that the government has the obligation of ensuring citizens’ welfare adding that the new partnership is an effort to promote respect for human rights since getting jailed abroad doesn’t remove one’s nationality.
“States have responsibilities of promoting citizens’ welfare. Conviction doesn’t mean deprival of nationality,” he said.

The minister explained that efforts are underway to transport convicts to their countries. Rwanda also doesn’t have statistics of Rwandans jailed in Uganda and Kenya.

The three countries have also signed an agreement on hosting refugees as prepared by Uganda while Rwanda will elaborate traffic rules within Northern Corridor states. The Northern Corridor connects Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda on sustainable developmental projects.

{When it comes to equality between men and women, the Nordic countries have long been celebrated as hands-down winners. Women in countries like Iceland, Norway, and Sweden are healthier, more educated, and better represented in government and at the top of companies in comparison with men—sometimes with the help of quota systems—than just about anywhere in the world. But this year they’re joined at the top by a new entrant. Rwanda has stormed into the top 10 countries assessed in the World Economic Forum’s annual report on global gender gaps.}

The WEF measures the gender gap using a wide range of factors in economics, health, education, and politics, and then allocates a score. Overall, at current rates it would take another 118 years before global gender equality is fully achieved, the WEF said.

Rwanda is an interesting case. It is one of only two countries in the world that have more women in parliament than men (the other is Bolivia). It is also the best-performing country in the world on one major indicator of gender equality: Perceived wage equality for similar work, a qualitative assessment based on surveys of thousands of executives worldwide.

The US, meanwhile, scored much less well than in previous years. Changes in Congress altered the makeup of the country’s legislative branch, meaning fewer women representatives at a national level. The overall outcome was an eight-place drop, to 28th from 20th last year. This left the US far outside the top 20, let alone the top 10.

Rwanda is the only African country in the top 10, but it is joined in the top 20 by Namibia at 16th and South Africa at 17th. As a continent, Africa also has some of the very worst-performing countries in the world (the Middle East is also strongly represented on that end of the spectrum). Chad and Mali are in the bottom 10 and Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Guinea, and several North African countries are are all in the bottom 20.

The sub-Saharan African countries stuck near the bottom of the index perform particularly poorly on getting women into education and helping them stay there, and, consequently, on literacy rates. Health and survival rates were also particularly low in these countries.