EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
IN THE NETHERLANDS

PRESS RELEASE
The Hague, 6 April 2012

“Let us learn from history to shape a bright future.”

April 2012 marks the 18th commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi, in which more than a million men, women and children were murdered in one hundred days.
“Let us learn from history to shape a bright future.”” is the guiding theme for this year’s commemoration.

This year’s commemoration week in Rwanda will be officially launched on 7th through 14th April – which is observed in Rwanda at the national level. The commemoration will continue for the next 100 days as this marks the period the massacres were committed against the Tutsi in 1994. A large event will be held at the Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali, but other commemorative events will be held throughout the country. The various activities during these three months will assist survivors to cope with their grief, giving descent burial to bodies and pay tribute to genocide victims as well as routine commemoration time and talk shows.

The Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda has planned the following commemorative events in the Netherlands:

12 April – Groningen University
Time: 18.00-20.00
Location: Room h1314.0026, Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat 26, 9712 EK in Groningen.

13 April – Maastricht School of Management
Time: 16.00-18.00
Location: main building conference hall, Endepolsdomein 150, 6229 EP Maastricht

14 April – Ibuka Association
Time: 16.30- until morning
Location: Kuijperstraat 20, Bunschoten-Spakenburg

15 April – Evangelical Power of Prayer Church Holland
Time: 13.30-17.00
Location: Schelluinsestraat 6, 4203 NC Gorinchem

17 April – The Hague
Time: 17.30-18.30
Location: Curch of Our Saviour, Bezuidenhoutseweg 157, 2594 AG The Hague.
Program: Church service led by Father Sjaak, Justine Mbabazi, Ambassador Immaculée Uwanyiligira.

19 April – Unesco IHE
Time: 17.30-20.00
Location: Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft

27 April – Wageningen University
Time: 14.00-17.30
Location: Forum building room 222, Droevendaalsesteeg 2, 6708 PB Wageningen

8 May – Tilburg University
Time: 15.00-17.30
Location: Warandelaan 2, 5037 AB Tilburg

For more information and/or to attend the event, please contact Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda:
Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan 9b
2582 NE Den Haag
T: +31 70 392 65 71

Rwanda has huge untapped investment opportunities. To discover these emerging market, come and see for yourselves, assess and decide what to do and how to benefit from Rwanda’s sustained high growth, robust governance, friendly investment climate, accessible market and the vast investment opportunities in sectors such as Agriculture, Energy, Infrastructure, Tourism, Mining, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Real Estate and construction, Financial services etc.

Upon arrival to Rwanda meetings and one-on-one consultations will set up with all potential business partners and trade and investment institutions to facilitate you to get most of the trip for your business.

While the trade mission welcomes all interested prospective investors, all sub-sectors of Agriculture and Energy are the main focus.

For more information on the characteristics of the Rwanda market and investment opportunities, please visit http://www.rdb.rw/ and http://www.minicom.gov.rw/, also downloadable Apple applications for practical information on doing business in Rwanda at http://bit.ly/rwanda-business and http://bit.ly/Rwanda-apps

Participation costs 250 € Excl. VAT + € 350 Out of pocket allowance (Food, drinks).
NABC will arrange a fair hotel rate for all participants.
Participants will pay for their flights and hotel costs.
Program Information about the program will follow soon!

Registration For registration and questions,
please contact Marina Diboma at marina.diboma@nabc.nl or
call + 31 (0) 70 3043618.

Are you an experienced Rwandan health professional living abroad and wishing to make meaningful contribution to development efforts in your country of origin through donation of your time; share your talents and expertise? Then, MIDA Health Rwanda Project might be the right partner for you.
Are you a Manager of a healthcare institution in Rwanda that is in need of human resource for health development or capacity building? Then, MIDA Health Project might be the right door for you. MIDA Health is a joint project between the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MINAFFET) of Rwanda and that uses skills and expertise from Rwandan diaspora health professionals and provides opportunities to support the national health strategy and the health sector and enhance their linkage to their home country.

The objective of the project is to contribute to the development of human resources in the health sector and encourage diaspora members to enhance their linkage to their home country.

The following key areas have been identified as priority to receive support from available health professionals from the Rwandan diaspora: Orthopedic Surgery, Neuro surgery, Maxillo facial, Plastic surgery, Pediatrics, Gynecology & Obstetrics, Internal Medicine, Internist Nephrologists, Internist Oncologist, Bio medical engineer, Histopathologist, etc.

Who can apply for the project?
1. Rwandan living and working abroad with a relevant background in health care or a related field;
2. Health institutions in Rwanda (Special attention is given to rural and district hospitals), and ;
3. Exceptionally, non-Rwandan health professionals willing to volunteer in Rwanda.

What does IOM offer?
1. Assistance with visa and work permit application (i.e. licensing);
2. Organizing travel arrangements, and lodgings in collaboration with hosting institutions;
3. Providing health and travel insurance;
4. Briefing to selected participants before deployment so that the roles and responsibilities of both participant and the host beneficiary institution are understood and agreed upon.
5. A subsistence allowance to each participant;
6. Supervision and monitoring during assignments.

CURRENT VACANCIES
Diaspora Health Professional Database

For further information or application, please contact:

IOM Rwanda, MIDA Health Project
Tel.: (+250) 252 58 67 10
Mobile Phone: +250 78 88 08622
E-mail: iomrwanda@iom.int

For further details about the vacancies, please visit www.jobs.rwandandiaspora.gov.rw

To apply for the project, Health Professionals interested can register on the above link and send their CV with the application letter to the above email by mentioning subject line: MIDA Health Rwanda Vacancy.

For more information on IOM, please visit www.iom.int

For more information on Rwandan Diaspora General Directorate (MINAFFET), please visit www.rwandandiaspora.gov.rw or www.minaffet.gov.rw

For more information on Public Health Sector in Rwanda, please visit www.moh.gov.rw

“Empowerment of Women and Girls in the Rwandan Society; their education and personal leadership.”

It is my pleasure to be among you today to share more about the feminine spirit that is alive in Rwanda today. I trust that the Rwandan story will inspire you to join us on our journey toward further empowering our women and girls.

I still have fond memories of my visit to one of the Soroptimist’s chapters in Assen, where I received a generous contribution from you to Les Hirondelles secondary school located in Eastern Rwanda (Kibungo). Let me take this opportunity to recognize and appreciate your support to our nation’s youth. It is a joy to recognize some of the familiar faces of our sisters from that Assen meeting, like Ineke Konig, who together with Betty Meyboom, Luud Roos and may other sisters were very hospitable during my visit.

It is encouraging to note that Soroptimist International is committed to: “a world where women and girls together achieve their individual and collective potential, realize aspirations and have an equal voice in creating strong and peaceful communities.” This resonates strongly with Rwanda’s vision and approach, to encouraging and expecting women to participate in developing and enriching Rwandan society.

In just 18 years, our country has risen above the ashes of a horrific genocide and is now a new Rwanda, a true wonder! Rwanda has undergone a remarkable transformation process, from a time when death and despair filled the air to a new dawn where hope, progress and prosperity abound and new ideas flourish. Rest assured that girls and women are very much at the heart of this success story.

Let me quote, if I may, our very own First Lady, H.E. Mrs. Jeannette Kagame who has blazed a trail for Rwandan women and girls. In a 2010 interview with Impact Magazine she attributed “The prominent role of women in Rwanda today to conscious decisions made by the post-genocide leadership, which understood the importance of women and supported women's active participation in all aspects of the nation's development”.

Indeed Rwanda has leaders who believe in women’s abilities and creative energies. This is evident through the political will and the establishment of various laws, legal instruments and initiatives over the past few years. The Government of Rwanda (GoR) has identified women as key agents in achieving peace, conflict resolution and sustainable development.

The 2003 revision of the National Constitution explicitly requires a 30% gender quota for decision makers in Parliament, and supports principles of adherence to international instruments of gender equality such as CEDAW, the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights, and respects the recommendations of the Beijing Platform. The 30% is believed to be the tipping point which leads to transformative change.

Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, Rwanda has achieved a number of results. The aim of the 1325 UN Resolution is to involve women in all decision making organs in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts, to protect young girls and women from the consequences of armed conflicts including Gender Based Violence and the need to prosecute criminals. Rwanda is one of only 23 countries in the world to have fully domesticated and implemented Resolution 1325.

Besides, the GoR has established different institutions and mechanisms including: a dedicated Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, a Gender Monitoring Office, the National Women’s Council, Anti Gender Based Violence Committees from grass roots to national level, Community Policing Committees, and a Gender Desk within the Rwanda National Police (RNP) known as Isange One-Stop Center.

Within the Rwanda National Police, female officers’ representation in decision-making levels is 16% of the total force including: 1 Director, 2 Heads of divisions, and 3 station commanders. In the senior ranks, there is 1 female officer, 8 Chief Inspectors, 10 Inspectors and 64 Assistant Inspectors. While modest, these figures are particularly significant for a formerly male dominated domain, and are all the more significant due to the crucial role played by the police in law enforcement and maintaining law and order. The role of women in peace and security has not stopped at home; 400 female officers have received redeployment trainings and most are already deployed in UN missions. In 2010, Rwanda deployed a 92-strong, all female contingent of Gender Based Violence trainers to Darfur.

With 56% female representation in Parliament, Rwanda has far exceeded the 30% constitutional requirement and has now become the first country in the world with the highest female representation in decision-making institutions. Across the board, gender representation statistics are impressive: 35% in the Senate, 38% in the Cabinet, 40% State Ministers, 50% Permanent Secretaries, 42% Judges in the Supreme Court, 70% Judges in the High Court, 43% District Councilors, 30% Judiciary Police, and 60% Executive Secretaries of National Commissions. Rwanda has been referred to, and rightly so, as the “best case” developing country in the work done toward women’s empowerment and peace building.

A Gender Responsive Budgeting initiative was put in place by the Government to ensure budget allocations for government interventions are gender sensitive. To date, every public institution is required to present a Gender Budget Statement.

Fee-free primary education introduced in 2003 impacted significantly on enrolment rates especially for girls. Primary level completion rate was 71% by end of 2009. The fee-free 9-year basic education program has significantly helped increase transition from primary to secondary and therefore completion rates. To reinforce these government efforts, there are rewarding campaigns conducted each year by NGOs (Imbuto Foundation for example) to encourage girls to excel, keeping in mind that not only do we want girls to merely attend school but to perform well.
We believe that education is not enough, the approach must be holistic; we must also look at health, economic empowerment and indeed have made good progress in these areas. Values such as dignity, self-respect, hard work, integrity are very much underscored. These values are shared through forums, debates on various forums and at home. This is the true worth of what it means to be Rwandan today.

With regard to economic empowerment, much needs to be done in the private sector as not equally impressive progress has been registered in this traditionally male dominated domain. That said, today, 29% of all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are owned by women. 43% of all businesses in Kigali are owned by women, while country-wide that figure drops to 20%.

What we are doing in Rwanda is creating the conditions that make empowerment conducive. We want to provide girls with a good start and equal opportunity, from there on they can spread their wings and touch the sky.

In closing, I would like to leave you with a reflection. Just this past week, on 1 February, Rwanda celebrated Heroes Day. This was a time to pay special tribute to the brave Rwandans who made our struggle for liberation and peace a reality; sadly many had to pay the price with their lives. A quote from Maya Angelou comes to mind and it says: “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate 
our heroes and she-roes!”. May we never forget the people who struggle and strive for high ideals and for the betterment of our society and may we remember both men and women in equal measure.

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
IN THE NETHERLANDS

The Hague ,24 January 2012

Canada deported Leon Mugesera, to face justice in Rwanda where he called for extermination of Tutsi in his famous 1992 speech. This deportation ends Mugesera’s 15-year legal battle to avoid returning to Rwanda.
Leon Mugesera is expected to land at Kigali International airport this Tuesday 24. For reasons of operational security, Canadian authorities would not confirm his departure.
However, Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' spokesman Mike Patton, said that "Canada has been resolute in its determination to see Leon Mugesera face justice in connection with allegations of promoting the genocide of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Rwanda in the early 1990s."
Mugesera, now 59, made an infamous speech in 1992 that played a major role in sparking the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, in which radical ethnic Hutus killed over one million Tutsis.
Two Canadian courts earlier Monday rejected last-ditch appeals to delay his deportation for six months so the United Nations Committee Against Torture could probe a claim that he faces political persecution in Rwanda.
Mugesera is among the first Western refugee claimants to be sent back to face charges in Rwanda. His deportation follows the case of Jean Uwinkindi who will also face justice in Rwanda for his role in genocide against the Tutsi. His file was handed over to Rwandan Prosecution Authority by International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) last week.
The continued handing over of genocide suspects and perpetrators to Rwandan judiciary is an international community acknowledgement of the important advancements Rwanda has made in terms of law reform and capacity building within the justice system. The Rwandan legal system is consistent with international standards.
As the Gacaca courts system has proven, Rwandans are committed to a form of justice that respects the rights of all concerned, as well as facilitating reconciliation.

Contact:

Eric RUGAMBA
Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda, The Hague
+31 70 392 65 71
erugamba@minaffet.gov.rw

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
IN THE NETHERLANDS

The Hague ,16 January 2012

FOR THE FIRST TIME, ICTR REFERS GENOCIDE CASE TO RWANDA

Kigali 16 January 2012 Former Pentecostal pastor and genocide suspect, Mr. Jean Uwinkindi, will face trial in Kigali after the ICTR handed his file to the Rwandan prosecutor, the first such transfer in the seventeen year history of the court. ICTR prosecutor, Hassan B. Jallow and Martin Ngoga, Rwanda's Prosecutor-General, announced the decision at a joint press conference today, describing it as a key milestone along the path towards lasting justice for victims of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis.
“Over seventeen short years, the government and legal profession, urged on by our citizens, have worked tirelessly to build courts and develop laws capable of delivering justice for Rwandans by Rwandans in a way the earns the respect of the world,” Mr Ngoga said. “Today's announcement shows the world how far we have come,” he added.
Jean Uwinkindi, a former Pentecostal pastor, was arrested in Uganda in June 2010 on counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity. He is alleged to have led several groups of armed killers targeting Tutsi civilians in multiple attacks that spanned the 100 days of the genocide between April and July 1994. At the time,Uwinkindi was pastor in charge of the Pentecostal Church of Kayenzi in Nyamata south east of Kigali. Closely aligned with the extremist wing of the MRND party, Uwinkindi is alleged to have sought the assistance of gendarmes within the ex-FAR to exterminate the local Tutsi population. After he fled in July 1994, two thousand corpses were discovered near his church.
Speaking of the ICTR's decision to transfer the file to Rwanda, Mr Jallow said:
“The referral reflects our acknowledgement of the important advancements Rwanda hasmade in terms of law reform and capacity building within the justice system. With the assistance of donors , as well as the ICTR, these measures ensure that the legal system is consistent with international standards. With this renewed confidence in the capacity and robustness of Rwandan justice, we will encourage more cases to be referred by the ICTR to Rwanda for trial".
Martin Ngoga noted that Rwanda has systematically addressed previous concerns raised by the ICTR about the country's capacity to deliver fair and effective justice, including by eliminating the death penalty in 2007.
“As the Gacaca system has proven, Rwandans are committed to a form of justice that respects the rights of all concerned, as well as facilitating reconciliation. We are delighted that the ICTR has come to agree with us – and now clearly recognises the depth of our capabilities and commitment.”
Under ICTR rules relating to the transfer of cases, the prosecutor may send observers to monitor the Uwinkindi trial.

Contact:

Eric RUGAMBA
Embassy of the Republic of Rwanda, The Hague
+31 70 392 65 71
erugamba@minaffet.gov.rw

ABOUT THE ICTR
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is the first international court of law established to prosecute high-ranking individuals for massive human rights violations in Africa. The purpose of this court is to prosecute those allegedly responsible for the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
In an effort to punish those responsible for genocide, the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. On 8 November 1994, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 955 (1994), which established “an international tribunal for the sole purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda and Rwandan citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations committed in the territory of neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994.

Vakantiebeurs is the Netherlands' biggest and most important international tourism exhibition. In 2011, the fair attracted more than 122,100 visitors and 1,688 exhibitors from approximately 160 countries, more than 14,000 travel and press professionals. This year, the fair is estimated to have attracted over 130,000 visitors. Every year, the fair provides an ideal opportunity for travel agents, national and international tourism destination promoters to meet in person with new customers, potential tourists and investors in the tourism sector
At the Rwandan stand, Ms. Rica Rwigamba, Head of Tourism and Conservation at RDB and Rwanda's Ambassador to the Netherlands, H.E. Immaculée Uwanyiligira were on hand to interact with the public, meet the media and answer various questions posed about Rwanda’s booming tourism sector. A number of Embassy staff were also present to interact with the public and distribute promotional materials on Rwanda. The Rwanda stand attracted throngs of people curious to learn more about the country. They were enchanted by the Rwandan dancers, Abeza, who entertained them throughout the event. Freshly brewed Rwandan coffee was also served at the Rwanda stand, much to the delight of the public.

Rwanda started participating in Vakantiebeurs in 2008 following the signing of a five-year contract with the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), an agency of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which facilitates companies from developing countries to promote tourism and the export of a range of products to Western European countries. Since then, there has been a notable growing interest in leisure travelers from the Netherlands. Since 2009 there has been a steady 7% increase in Dutch travelers to Rwanda. From January to September 2011, there was a remarkable growth by 30% of Dutch visitors to Rwanda, or 3,376 tourists, of whom 33% (1,098) travelled to Rwanda for Business. Leisure was the second purpose of travel, accounting for 29% (975) visitors. This corresponds to 6% of the total European travelers to the country. To put this in context, in terms of tourist figures from Europe, the Netherlands stands in sixth place after UK, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy.
KLM opened its route to Rwanda in October 2010 with five direct flights per week from Amsterdam to Kigali and vice-versa. This new route offers ease of access for the Dutch travelers to Rwanda. The noted upward trend in business and leisure travel is likely to grow.