STOCKHOLM-Rwandans living in Sweden over the weekend gathered to celebrate Liberation Day, an event that attracted dignitaries including former Swedish Premier Ingvar Carlsson.

Carlsson is also the former Chairperson of the independent Commission established to probe the role of the UN in the 1994 Genocide.

During the event that also attracted several diplomats accredited to Stockholm, Rwandan envoy to the Nordic countries, Jacqueline Mukangira, reminded the guests that the transformation the country has undergone to emerge one of the safest and fastest growing countries in Africa had come at a cost.

"As the international community washed its hands of the plight of masses of defenseless victims of the Genocide, brave Rwandan men and women, determined to alter the course of history, sacrificed their lives to rescue our country", said Mukangira.

"The journey since then has not been an easy one," the she added, "but, Rwandans can, for instance, proudly celebrate the fact that a child born in Rwanda today has a much higher chance of living in peace, attending school and achieving their dreams than at any other time in the history of our country.”

Addressing Rwandans who attended the event, Mukangira noted that while much progress had been made, the Rwandan government was only taking current achievements as a beginning.

She paid tribute to Rwandans in the Nordic countries for their contributions to the One Dollar Campaign and urged them to contribute even more as the campaign winds up.

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