Aegis Trust has launched a new peace education programme dubbed Action for Sustainable Peace, Inclusion, Rights and Equality (ASPIRE), which aims at promoting peace, reconciliation and positive values in the Rwandan society. Registered in Rwanda as an NGO, Aegis Trust is an international organisation working to prevent genocide and the crimes against humanity. The programme, announced on Tuesday, November 30 during the celebration of the four years of the NGO’s peace journey, will see three peace-building centres opened up in different parts of the country, notably Huye and Nyagatare districts and will become operational effective December 2021. Targeting the youth, educators, parents, decision makers and researchers, the four-year programme will be implemented through maintaining the reconciliation milestones, but also accompanying policy makers to push for resolutions that foster unity. Sandra Shenge, the Programmes Manager of Aegis Trust said that the new initiative is an initial step of the NGO to promote peace values starting from the ground. “We are going an extra mile instead of bringing people to be trained, we will find them in their communities and create centers to be near them, and have those very beneficiaries coming to the peace centers that will be hosting the training,” she said. We will be concentrating on reinforcing what we will have achieved, through these peace centers, and research processes, she recounts, but we will reach more people and we will make sure we accompany the policy makers as they apply the recommendations given. Freddy Mutanguha, the Executive Secretary of Aegis Trust was optimistic on the new program, stressing the role of approaching beneficiaries down in their local villages. “Through approaching the teachers, they were open to us and highlighted that through the training, they gained a holistic approach to integrate peace values in their everyday work, through interacting with students, that’s why we want to keep approaching them to gain a deeper understanding of the issue,” he said. He highlighted that achieving maximum healing in the population requires people to dare face their past, recall it and maintain the memorial culture. The first peace education programme of Aegis Trust has seen the content related to peace and reconciliation values spread to 5,102 teachers, 298 parents, 441 youth champions as well as 319 decision makers. Addressing the attendants, Christina Wedekull, the Deputy Mission Director and Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden noted that her embassy was proud to be part of this solution. “Despite the journey we’ve been working together with Aegis Trust, we’ve also signed another 4-year agreement to this new program because as the Swedish embassy, peace and creating hope for the future is our priority,” she said. Citing the 2020 Rwanda reconciliation barometer, Christina indicated that there are still reconciliation gaps, stressing that this project comes at the right time. “We still have to do more, because there are still reconciliation gaps here in Rwanda, and our history has taught us that reconciliation should never be taken for granted in any society,” she stressed. On her part, Anitha Kayiranga, the Director General of National Unity, Itorero and Citizenship Education in the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement said that it is the right time to spearhead initiatives that move the society from the dark chapter of life to a brighter future. “Our unity went through tribulations, but it’s our duty as friends of peace to make sure we don’t live what we passed through again; Rwandans belong together and in any circumstance they won’t be separated,” she said. Kayiranga then pledged the commitment from the Ministry of Unity and Civic Engagement to walk a mile together with Aegis Trust. With a span of four years, the program targets 2,688 schools with 940,800 students and 18,816 students.
