Rwanda will soon revive discussions with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s on listing memorial sites of the Genocide against the Tutsi on the World Heritage Sites list, Jean Damascene Bizimana, the Minister for National Unity and Civic Engagement has said. The talks had stalled due to the pandemic and it is three years since the government handed over the file containing all the requirements for the process but they are expected to resume before the end of the year according to officials. According to Bizimana, talks are set to resume during a UNESCO meeting set to held in Kigali on a yet to be confirmed date. The four Genocide memorial sites expected to be included on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, are Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Gisozi, Nyamata Genocide Memorial site in Bugesera District, Murambi memorial centre in Nyamagabe District, and Bisesero Genocide memorial in Karongi District. Among other benefits, the listing raises global awareness of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Julienne Uwingabe, a genocide survivor from Gitega sector in Nyarugenge District, the listing is important for us and for the world to know and understand what happened to us, because they just stood-by and did almost nothing while we were dying and suffering. She added So it's important to remind them of their mistakes so that they will never do what they did to us. Out of 1092 world heritage sites in the world, only 95 sites are in Africa. In a related development Minister Bizimana also said that the government has a plan of renovating memorial sites as a way of preserving the memories and history of the genocide. We are encouraging the youth, especially we call upon schools in each district to take children to memorial sites in their districts to know their history, he said.
