BURERA - Over 1000 members of the Bureau of mediation committee drawn from the various sectors in Burera district, yesterday, completed training on the organic law prescribing the functions of a mediation committee, the law on succession and conflict resolution mechanisms.

The two-week training, organized by the Ministry of justice, introduced the members of the mediation committee to measures of preventing gender based violence, the land law and the jurisdiction and competence of the mediation committee Mary Saba, an official from the Ministry of Justice, called upon the districts, through the Abunzi secretariat, to closely supervise the mediation committee members and help them develop the capacity and effectiveness to solve local disputes.

"The mediation committee is a strong pillar of conflict resolution which will deal with social conflicts regarding land, gender violence and abuse of child rights, in rural community. Use the skills acquired to help the others engage into productive ventures other then wasting time in legal battles” Saba said

Participants highlighted that lack of knowledge about the succession law and various forms of gender based violence, have been the major cause of conflicts among families
"We discovered that polygamy is a form of gender based violence and creates conflicts among children especially when it comes to succession, we also discovered that its violation of the children to deny them education,” said Jacob Ndize, a resident of Nemba

The mediation committees at the cell and sector levels are comprised of 12 residents considered to be of integrity in society

They requested for additional facilitation including, health insurance and bicycles that would ease their transportation.

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