Outreach Programme on the Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations

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In Rwanda, Ban calls for concerted regional and international action in South Sudan

16 July, 2016

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the twenty-seventh African Union Summit, taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, 10-18 July 2016. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

On the margins of the 27th African Union (AU) Summit taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today addressed a regional body and met with several regional leaders, stressing the need for concerted action to revive the implementation of the peace agreement in South Sudan.

In Rwanda, Ban meets with African leaders on situation in South Sudan

15 July, 2016

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from right) arrives in Kigali, Rwanda. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Ahead of the 27th African Union (AU) Summit taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today met with several African leaders to discuss the situation in South Sudan.

FEATURE: After two decades, genocide survivor opens up about her anger and forgiveness

1 July, 2016

Frida Umuhoza, survivor and author of �Frida: Chosen to Die, Destined to Live.� addresses the annual commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda (7 April). UN Photo/Loey Felipe

“Being a hero is being able to give a smile to the person who sold you death,” said Frida Umuhoza, who was barely a teenager when her entire family – including her grandparents, parents and five siblings – were killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Prosecutor for UN ex-Yugoslav tribunal warns of negative regional political situation

8 June, 2016

Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT), briefs the Security Council. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

The top official of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today updated the Security Council on the latest developments in his work, cautioning that while there have been positive developments in national war crimes justice and the Tribunal is on track to fulfil its mandate by the end of next year, the political situation in the region is not keeping pace.

FEATURE: Family of UN peacekeeper who saved hundreds of lives in Rwanda shares memories of their father, husband

19 May, 2016

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presents the

On 31 May 1994, as Rwanda was descending into chaos, Captain Mbaye Diagne, a military observer at the United Nations Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMIR), was in the capital, Kigali, driving back to the base when a mortar fell near his vehicle. Just 12 days from finishing up his service, he died instantly.

Ban highlights need to fight ‘genocide ideology,’ as UN reflects on 1994 atrocities in Rwanda

11 April, 2016

Rwandan refugees, who fled the genocide, returning in July 1994 from Goma, Zaire, (now the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC). UN Photo/John Isaac

At an event marking the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the only way to prevent genocide and other “egregious” violations of human rights is to acknowledge shared responsibility and commit to shared action to protect those at risk.

Remembering Rwanda, Ban urges a firm stand against hate speech

7 April, 2016

In 1996 in Rwanda, wooden crosses mark the graves in a cemetery in the village of Nyanza in a rural area of Kigali, the capital. During the 1994 genocide, over 10,000 people were burned to death in Nyanza as they tried to escape towards Burundi. Photo: UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi

On the 22nd anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the role hate speech plays in inciting division and violence, and urged the international community to “fight genocide ideology.”

Prosecutor to appeal UN tribunal's acquittal of Vojislav ešelj of war crimes in the Balkans

6 April, 2016

UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Photo: ICTY

The long-serving Prosecutor of the United Nations tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today announced that he will appeal The Hague-based court's recent acquittal of Serbian politician Vojislav ešelj on war crimes charges in connection with actions committed by Serbian forces between August 1991 and September 1993.

Rwanda: chronic malnutrition rates drop but remain ‘stubbornly high,’ UN-backed study reveals

5 April, 2016

A young girl watches as a young boy eats from a sachet of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) in Mahama refugee camp, Eastern Province, Rwanda. Photo: UNICEF/Mike Pflanz

Chronic malnutrition in Rwanda have fallen significantly in the last three years, but still remain stubbornly high, especially in rural areas, finds a new study conducted over three years by the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture with support from the World Food Programme (WFP).

Ban appoints long-serving UN tribunal jurist to head up courts' residual mechanism

2 March, 2016

Judge Carmel Agius, (left) President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, speaks with Judge Theodor Meron (right), President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, in the Security Council Chamber. UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Judge Theodor Meron of the United States as President of the international body that will carry out the residual functions of the UN war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, for a new term that began yesterday, 1 March 2016.