UNESCO on Friday, April 5, handed over official certificates to four Genocide memorial sites in Rwanda that were last year added to the World Heritage List. The memorials are some of the final resting places of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that took more than one million lives in a period of three months. ALSO READ Four Genocide memorials added to UNESCO World Heritage List The certificates were handed over by UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay at Kigali Genocide Memorial. Besides Kigali Memorial, other memorials that were certified are Murambi in Nyamagabe District, Nyamata in Bugesera District and Bisesero in Karongi District. ALSO READ: Inscription of memorials a good ammunition against genocide deniers “Last year, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO voted to add four Genocide memorials to the World Heritage List. This means international recognition, that what happened in Rwanda is tragedy not only for Rwanda but also to the entire international community, the whole humanity,” she noted. Azoulay said that the four Genocide memorial sites will play an important role in educating future generations worldwide about peace and genocide prevention. ALSO READ: UNESCO boss backs bid to turn Rwanda's Genocide memorials into world heritage sites “The certification of the four memorial sites recognizes what Rwanda has done in the last years to preserve the memory to educate about Genocide and to transmit education to future generation. We have been working with Rwanda to support teaching about the genocide, support tteachers to produce guidance for the community and how to engage with the youth. This is very important for Rwanda, UNESCO, and the entire international community,” she said. The Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Jean-Damascène Bizimana, said that certification of the four Genocide memorial sites was part of 30th commemoration of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “Adding the memorial sites to the World Heritage List means they will be taught in history that killing is not a culture. UNESCO emphasizes good values that espouses peace and security,” he said. Since 2012, local communities, national and international experts, and relevant advisory groups, including the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an evaluation body, collaborated closely in a thorough process that has resulted in the four Genocide memorials being included on the World Heritage List. Azoulay is on Saturday expected to visit the Murambi Genocide Memorial in Nyamagabe District where she will meet survivors, the management of the site and young people from local communities. Set up at a former technical school, Murambi memorial is a final resting place to over 50,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
