The  UN  International  Criminal  Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), on Monday awarded  the  winners  of the East African Youth Essays and Drawings Competition  at  an  elaborate  ceremony also marking the UN Day in Arusha, Tanzania.

The aim of the competition organized by the Tribunal was to sensitize the youth of the region on the "Role of the Tribunal in Promoting International Justice.” Each EAC partner state had two winners – one in the essay and another in the drawing categories, respectively.

The  competition  was  part  of  the  Tribunal’s  Educational  and Outreach campaign  to raise awareness of the youth in the region in the global fight against  the  culture  of impunity, following the tragic events that led to the  1994 Genocide  against the Tutsi.
It involved students from Primary and Secondary schools in the region.

While in Kigali, on October 14, Roland Amoussouga, the ICTR Spokesperson told reporters that in the primary school category, the two winners from Rwanda were 12-year old girls from schools in Huye district: Ange Dive and Ariane Kangabo.

Rwandan essay award winners are Bruce Ishimwe, 18, from the Petit Seminaire and Chantal Uwamariya., 17, from Ecole Indatwa, also in Huye.

"It is important for us to ensure that these youngsters of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are on the same wavelength in understanding the issue of Genocide and the work ICTR is doing,” Amoussouga noted during the October 14 press conference in Kigali.

The winners in each category from each country attended Monday’s ceremony and received their awards; Laptop computers for the two top winners in each category and a desktop to the top winning school in each category from each country.

The project was funded by the government of Germany through its Embassy in Dar es Salaam. The event was graced by Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, the EAC Secretary-General, who was also the guest of honour.

Ambassador  Mwapachu  hailed  the  initiative  by  the  tribunal to use the writing  and  creative  abilities of the youth in the region to raise their awareness  in  matters  pertaining  to international  justice. 

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