NORTHERN PROVINCE

When the president of the National Human Rights Commission, Zainabu Kayitesi, called upon religious leaders to champion and promote human rights, they pledged to fully commit to that calling. And they should.

Human rights are inherent and fundamental values enclosed within a general framework of what Rwanda and many in the international community conceive as natural law.

The campaign to educate people about their rights, especially women and children’s rights, would be a big step towards this goal.

Failure to understand that some rights are human rights has resulted into violence specifically against women. To many locals, women and children’s rights are a privilege and have often been violated.

Religious and local should take it upon themselves to educate the public about those rights. Even though culture sometimes contradict more modern notions of equality and human rights as we see them now—such as polygamy—the principle of equality can never be abused.

Food-crop cultivation is often seen solely as a ‘woman activity’, along with domestic chores and looking after children. According to the Human Rights Commission, social problems such as poverty, conflicts, diseases and Genocide ideology are a threat towards the full enjoyment of human rights.

Zainabu Kayitesi says that in building the fundamental values of a person there is need to bring justice, order and security to human beings. Social rights start with real, human security.

People must then also understand the essential value of one another and interconnectedness and interdependency. The purpose for government in the first place is that there is an understanding that we all must work together to ensure our own safety.

Sometimes children are left out of this. Children’s rights are often violated or ignored, for example a child’s right to proper growth, right to education, and most importantly, equal rights with adults.

Parents are required to listen and talk to their children about the bad habits and are supposed to involve the children in solving problems facing them.

Ends