Rwandan youths grouped under the Rwanda Youth Network (RYN) have unveiled a two year country-wide project aimed at using sports as a potential tool for building peace and sustainable development.

The project kicked off late last year with a visit to the Eastern Province in the districts of Gatsibo and Nyagatare where the youths helped vulnerable school drop-outs.

Sports clubs were created and subsequent competitions organized to help convey a message to the future generation about their role and contribution towards national development.

"Due to their enormous love for sports, we have opted to use it as a tool for youth empowerment to articulate issues of national development,” Cyrus Munyaburanga Nkusi, the country director said yesterday during an interview.

He added: "We are planning to start visiting secondary schools and universities next month to encourage the youth to join these clubs where they can have public debates and discuss their challenges as youth.”

RYN will during the duration of the project help empower the youth through sports by teaching them skills on how to create jobs other than seeking for them, they will also be taught about culture and its importance. This will, according to Nkusi, be done through public talk shows on Radio and Television.

RYN will also facilitate the sponsorship of youth to attend the east African Youth Conference in March this year slated to be held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

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