WESTERN PROVINCE

KARONGI — Fourteen couples who have been cohabiting in Kiziba refugee camp were on Wednesday wedded in a mass wedding, by local leaders.

Kiziba refugee camp, located in Rwankuba Sector in Karongi District was created in 1997 to accommodate Congolese refugees who were fleeing DR Congo due to insecurity. The camp accommodates about 18,000 refugees.

The wedding ceremony was organised by the Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA) in collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and presided over by Rwankuba Sector Executive Secretary, Safari Bagina Enoch.

In his speech, Rwankuba reminded refugees of the importance of legal marriage and the law that allows foreigners to tie their knots in a foreign country.

He urged other families still cohabiting to formalizing their marriages, saying without doing so their children will be greatly affected.

In a separate interview, the Africa Humanitarian Action coordinator, in charge of HIV/Aids and gender based violence, Uzia Nsengiyunva, said legal marriages was key to minimising gender based violence that has been rampant at the camp.

"It took us two years to mobilise these families. We organised and mobilised 120 families but today we received only 14 and others declined due to registration problems,” he said. 

Nsengiyumva observed that when partners take marriage vows, it helps them gain happiness at home with equality in decision making which prevents gender based violence. The refugees were also advised to adopt family planning in order to have small manageable families.

Citing a couple with seven children, the Sector leader warned that big families were source of poverty to families. The newly wedded couples were also advised to learn the culture of saving on the little they earn.

The Africa Humanitarian Action is a non profit making organisation that operates in 12 African countries and has been helping refugees in Kiziba camp in different fields including health.

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