The government will not ignore the youth in  development initiatives but will harness their full potential to enhance economic, political, social and sustainable peace.

The director general of Rwanda Peace Academy, Col. Jill Rutaremara, made the remarks on Monday at the opening of a youth peace building course in Musanze District.

The week-long workshop attracted 35 participants from National Youth Council, private sector, and the Ministry of Youth and Information Communication and Technology.

"The youth have unique qualities. They are energetic, innovative, and receptive to new ideas, they embrace inclusive politics more easily. If negatively exploited, it can lead to disastrous consequences. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was the product of negative exploitation of the youth by selfish and narrow –minded political elites,” Rutaremara said.

"The youth can influence the direction that their country takes by making significant contribution in the design, formulation and implementation of various policies, programmes and laws.

 You can achieve such through networking and organising yourselves and others into structures and engaging in peace building projects, to contribute to peace building,” Rutaremara said.

He noted that peace building involves multi-disciplinary approach.

This includes fighting negative discourses such as those that promote genocide ideology and other divisive politics, contributing to economic, social welfare, and promoting unity and reconciliation.

Participants expect to deepen their knowledge and skills to enable them participate in peace building while contributing to national development in different ways.

A trainer from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Suenja Vollmer said participants would learn how to respond to the needs of the community while reflecting on peace building.

"We are going to challenge them. They will develop their own projects which contribute to addressing some of the needs identified. They will create challenges in social, business, environmental fields and come up with solutions in relation to their communities and environments. We shall give them tools and methodology. All the projects that will come out will have peace building components,” Vollmer said.

Felix Manzi, a participant from a non government organisation whose mission is to prevent crimes against humanity (AEGIS Trust), said the training would empower him to better carry out his duties.

"We expect the training to be very fruitful in terms of capacity building. We are going to gain wider understanding of what peace building is. This is a great capacity building opportunity in peace building,” Manzi said.

The workshop is a result of collaborative efforts between Rwanda Peace Academy and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).