WUNRN
GENOCIDE - The
deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular
nation or ethnic group. https://www.google.it/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=53C3VdPZF8qs8wfZlKz4Cw#q=Genocide+-+Definition
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July 9, 2015 - RUSSIA VETOES UN
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION TO DESCRIBE SREBRENIA MASSACRE OF 8,000 MUSLIM MEN
AND BOYS DURING THE BOSNIA WAR IN 1995 AS “GENOCIDE.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-16352745
April 13, 2015 - The mass killing of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One remains a highly sensitive
issue. Turkey has resisted widespread calls for it to recognize the 1915-16
killings as genocide, while historians continue to argue about the events.
Arguments have raged for decades
about the Armenian deaths in 1915-16.
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http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-04-09/187699/
Rwanda – Genocide Widows Recount Terror & Tragedy but Move Forward to Rebuild Lives & Rwanda
By: Donah Mbabazi – April 9, 2015
April 7, 2015, marked the 21st anniversary of
the beginning of a hundred days of terror in Rwanda in which over one million
innocent people were killed. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi left many
survivors without family, with wounds that would take forever to heal and very
little to live for. Many people lost their loved ones.
In the aftermath of the Genocide, widows and
widowers came together and formed an association that would help them continue
to survive and fight for what was left of their lives.
The
association opened branches in all the provinces of the country with health
centres that provide medical services. (Net photo)
Avega (Association des Veuves du Génocide),
an association of widows and widowers who survived the Genocide was formed in
1995 to help genocide widows pick up the pieces and trace a new meaning to
life.
Adelina Mukarwaya is a survivor and member of
the association; she recalls the massacre and personal endurance twenty one
years later, like it was yesterday.
“Life was terrible after the Genocide.Family
and friends were killed and our lives were left in pieces. My husband and three
of my children were killed and I was left with only one daughter. I was lonely,
and I mourned my family day and night. I had to seek refuge in camps because I
couldn’t go back to our home,” Mukarwaya reminisces the horrible events.
Mukarwaya says her life got some relief after
joining Avega. It’s when she realised that there were other women going through
the same ordeal.
“ I realised I wasn’t alone and this gave me
strength and hope to continue living. I now earn a living from making jewelry
which is sold in the United States of America.”
Mukarwaya has also been able to educate her
daughter, now in her third year at the university, thanks to Survivors Fund
(FARG).
She also started a new family with someone
from the association and the couple has been blessed with three children.
For Beatha Mukankusi, another Genocide widow,
the association has literally transformed her tattered life.
Before the Genocide, she lived with her
family in Bugesera. When the massacre intensified, the family tried to escape
but only a few managed to survive.
“Most of my relatives were murdered; my
husband’s family was killed. We were left in isolation and my husband, who had
also managed to survive,died shortly after the Genocide. I survived with only
my children; we became homeless since we couldn’t go back to our home because
the people who killed our family were still there.
“But now we live in Kimironko where Avega
constructed houses for us. I am employed at the association and earn a decent
living through selling handicrafts which helps me sustain the family,”
Mukankusi says.
According to Francoise Umurungi, the National
Coordinator of Avega in Kigali, after the Genocide, fifty widows came together
to form Avega and regardless of what had happened, they saw the need to join
hands and confront the bitter reality with collective resolve.
And since 1995, the association has dedicated
itself to supporting and empowering women and men who were affected by the
Genocide.
The organisation has over 19,000 members,
most of whom are women. Due to the need to embrace more survivors, the
association opened branches in all the provinces of the country and health
centres providing medical services, psychological counseling, education and
training.
“Avega helps the women fight for their rights
by offering advice on how to seek justice and it has also built houses for many
widows and orphans. The women are involved in various income generating
activities such as animal husbandry, jewelry making, among other things,”
Umurungi says.
She adds that the association’s biggest challenge
is the limitation of funds since most donors are scaling down their support.
But she says that they are handling the issue by coming up with projects that
will generate income for the association instead of entirely depending on aid.
“We have about 61 women, most of whom are
elderly and have no one left but they need care.
This is one of the major problems we are
facing, but we are constructing retirement homes with a caretaker in place,”
Umurungi says.
The 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi
was one of the worst genocides in history and its effects still ripple through
the country.
At the end of the Genocide, there was an
estimated seventy percent women constituting the population.
During the Genocide, Rwandan women were
subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale, perpetrated by members of the
infamous Hutu militia group known as the Interahamwe.
Although the exact number of women raped will
never be known, a great number of them were infected with HIV/Aids.
Testimonies from survivors confirm that rape
was extremely widespread and that thousands of women were individually raped,
gang-raped or tortured with crude objects being inserted in their private
parts. These crimes were frequently part of a pattern in which Tutsi women were
raped after they had witnessed the torture and killings of their relatives and
the destruction and looting of their homes. According to witnesses, many women
were killed immediately after being raped.
Moving forward
Women have greatly contributed to the
rebuilding of various sectors of the economy since 1994 when the Genocide was
stopped. In terms of leadership, women hold 64 percent of the seats in
parliament, making them a priority in the decision making process of the
country.
Women entrepreneurs have also made a
significant impact in all segments of the economy. The impact of women
entrepreneurs on economic development of Rwanda, a case study of women
entrepreneurs in expo 2010 organised by Rwanda private sector federation, states
Rwanda has the second-highest ratio of female entrepreneurs in Africa.
The contribution of women to agriculture and food production is significant since they comprise over 80% of the labour force in agriculture.