There is a need for stakeholders to put special focus on mobilising the growing number of young people as allies in promoting gender justice and preventing gender-based violence (GBV) on and offline. This was one the issues that arose during the celebrations of the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2021. Named the Orange Campaign, the dive was themed: “Speak Out! End Gender-Based Violence”, and was supported by the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion. Why youth should be involved Evode Niyibizi, the Country Director of AfriYAN Rwanda, says Rwanda is lucky to have a very dynamic young generation with a commitment to drive positive changes in society. When it comes to eliminating gender-related issues and GBV, he says putting them at the centre and investing in their potentials is key. Chon Gyongshik, Country Director of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), noted that the campaign provided an opportunity to reflect on the emerging issues of inequality that put women and girls at risk especially in Covid-19 pandemic era. The Director-General of Gender Promotion and Women Empowerment Silas Ngayaboshya believes that the value of involving young people in the fight against GBV is crucial. “Fighting GBV concerns us all. However, changing mindsets and attitudes that have been instilled in our society for centuries requires multiple interventions. “One of those is to involve young people who can be groomed from a young age to have a more gender-sensitive approach in everything that they do. He adds that while culture and religion should be respected, he says there is a need to evolve, sieve through and identify which of the norms and beliefs encourage discrimination and abuse and which ones are progressive. Kevin Ngabo, a young educator and activist, thinks that GBV as a word is somehow misunderstood by most and limited to focus on a particular group, in this case, women. Instead, he points out that GBV comes in many forms of violence, it could be physical, emotional, or financial, and can happen to anyone. “What we fail to realize is that for most of us we dont have the necessary tools to know and acknowledge when GBV has occurred, and we fall under the misconception of culture or society that has predetermined that to be okay,” he says. Ngabo says building positive masculinities that create a safe space of inclusion and diversity for those at the margins is important. Meanwhile, the campaign also hosted a workshop for young influencers aimed at encouraging adolescents and youth under 35 who make up 78 per cent of Rwandas population, to participate more in meaningful and inclusive policy and decision making. Meanwhile, an inter-university debates competitions organised by AfriYAN Rwanda in partnership with Aspire Debate Rwanda brought together all the universities and higher learning institutions across the country. The students were engaged in discussions and exchange of ideas on how youth can meaningfully participate in building a gender just and violent free Society especially by ending the violence against women and girls. Among the 16 universities that reached the final stages, the African Leadership University was announced the winner with an award of Rwf600,000. The first runner up was the UR-CMHS Remera Campus, which walked away with Rwf400,000 while University of Kigali, which took third place was rewarded with Rwf200,000.
