The United Nations, yesterday, observed the 17th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in an event held under the theme:"Rebuilding Rwanda:Reconciliation and Education.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the only way to honour victims of the Genocide is to ensure that such tragedies never occur again.

"Preventing Genocide is a collective and individual responsibility. Rwanda’s survivors have made us confront the ugly reality of a preventable tragedy,” Ban said in a UN statement.

He paid special tribute to the people and government of Rwanda for the resilience and dignity they have shown in working towards national recovery and managing the trauma.

"My special advisors on the prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect are monitoring developments worldwide, looking for early signs of risk. We must remain ever vigilant,” Ban said.

This year’s event included a memorial ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, where the victims as well as the survivors of the Genocide were honoured.

The ceremony further emphasised the promotion of education as a tool for reconciliation.

A students’ conference will be held today with focus on Genocide prevention and will feature Francis Deng, Ban’s Special Advisor and Clementine Uwamariya, a Genocide survivor and student at Yale University as speakers.

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