The youth have been urged to own the country’s peace building process. The call was made on Saturday during celebrations to mark the International Youth Day in Kigali organised by Never Again Rwanda, a local non government organisation focused on peace building.

The global day is celebrated annually to recognize efforts by the youth in enhancing society. For Rwanda, the day means a lot since the youth constitute a big percentage of the population. Also given the country’s dark history in which the youth were misled to participate in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the day is a reminder that the youth should use their power to promote peace and unity, and not destruction.

During the 1994 Genocide, it was mostly the youth that were misguided and led into killing innocent people. Indeed, Never Again Rwanda should organize more of such dialogues for the youth to remind them of their expected role in society and development.

The government has put in place several initiatives to empower the youth and enable them to actively take part in the country’s development process. However, at the individual level, the youth must also actively engage in activities that will boost their personal development and national development in general.

It is encouraging that some youth have taken advantage of the government support to become achievers who inspire others.

The youth have a lot of energy and potential, but this energy should be put into doing constructive things. They should shape the future they want for their country. They should avoid listening to people bent on undoing the achievements so far achieved by the country .

The perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide are still at large and are trying hard to sow seeds of hatred to divide the nation through promoting genocide ideology. The youth must stay the course in fighting for unity and peace.