This week, Rwandans and friends of Rwanda are marking the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, which claimed over a million lives. Twenty-five years after those horrific events, Rwandans have managed to pick up the pieces and are busy building a better country for posterity. It is commendable that the Government has put the young generation at the heart of this year’s commemoration. The youth constitute 60 per cent of the country’s population and are indispensable in the country’s efforts to ensure that genocide never happens in the country again. One of the more recent avenues through which the youth have demonstrated enthusiasm in leading the conversations on the country’s past and future prospects is the Generation25 (G25) – a play about the life of the generation of Rwandans born after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The play is set to be performed today, April 12, at Kigali Genocide Memorial Amphitheater. The youth will use the platform to ask probing questions revolving around the past tragedies and their role in continued effort to rebuild an inclusive, better Rwanda. During this conversation and in other kwibuka25 forums, it is important to carefully listen to the questions the youth will be posing, and to take time to respond to each of them. Many of them were not yet born during the Genocide against the Tutsi. As such, there is need for deliberate and sustained efforts to ensure that they are fully onboard as far as nation-building is concerned, and one of the ways this can be done is to continuously roll out pro-youth initiatives that embody Rwandan values and empowering the youth to make the most of such opportunities.
