March 28, 2024 23:39 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Actor Govinda returns to politics after 14 years of 'vanvas', joins Eknath Shinde camp | 'To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture': PM posts after 600 lawyers write to CJI | Comments on our electoral, legal processes completely unacceptable: India on US' remarks over Kejriwal arrest | Delhi High Court rejects PIL seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as CM | MHA extends AFSPA in 3 districts of Arunachal Pradesh for 6 months
25 years on from Rwandan genocide, UN Chief warns of ‘dangerous trends of rising xenophobia, racism and intolerance’

25 years on from Rwandan genocide, UN Chief warns of ‘dangerous trends of rising xenophobia, racism and intolerance’

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | 07 Apr 2019, 09:59 am

New York, Apr 7 (IBNS): In a message to commemorate the 25-year anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, UN chief António Guterres has warned of dangerous trends of rising xenophobia, racism and intolerance in many parts of the world.

April 7 marks the start of the 1994 genocide, which saw over 800,000 Tutsis, moderate Hutu and others who opposed the genocide, systematically killed in less than three months. Guterres said that the anniversary is an opportunity to honour those who were murdered, and reflect on the suffering and resilience of those who survived.

One of those survivors is Libérée Kayumba. Today, she works for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Rwanda, helping refugees from other countries to meet their basic needs and survive the challenging conditions they face in the camps. But 25 years ago she was in their shoes, one of the many Rwandans forced to flee the genocide, after seeing her parents and brothers killed before her eyes.

Her understanding of what refugees go through has, she says, given her a deeper understanding of their plight, and the memories of the genocide have motivated her to work for the WFP and do what she can to help people in need. Nevertheless, she says that coming back from that has not been easy, either for her or her sisters.

Libérée is an example of the reconciliation that, in his message, Guterres says all societies are capable of, and urged peoples and countries to work together to build a harmonious future for all. The UN Secretary-General called on all political, religious and civil society leaders to reject hate speech and discrimination, which he described as an affront to our values, and threats to human rights, social stability and peace, and to “work vigorously to address and mitigate the root causes that undermine social cohesion, and create conditions for hatred and intolerance.”

The United Nations is commemorating the  International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda with events around the world, including a memorial ceremony at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, and an event at the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York, organized in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the United Nations, which can be watched live on UN Web TV.

 

Image Credit:  WFP/Jonathan Eng

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.